Diving Deep
by enits3
Summary: AU. So, we're back to the very beginning. How will it be for the rookies to experience a slightly different training? Forget what we've learned on the show and bear with me on this idea.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I`ve been trying to avoid this idea for the last couple of months, but caved in a couple of weeks ago, and I have no idea if anyone else already have this idea down on paper. The reason I`ve been avoiding this is mainly because I wasn`t sure I wanted to start anything new when the season started (fail) and more importantly because it has nothing to do with what we`ve already seen on the show._

_Sorry if you find my english failing me somewhere in here, I`ve read it too many times so I`m immune to catching them. _

_ But anyway; here goes!  
_

* * *

She was the first his eyes met when he walked through the doors of the Black Penny, seated among what he assumed were the rest of the rookies, he could hear her laughter all the way from across the bar. Same girl that had him face-down on the pavement only two months ago.

A person stepping in front of his view forced him to move along and force his eyes away from her, his eyes found the occupied table with his friends among it. He couldn't help the smile that stole his lips when he saw _his_ empty chair waiting for him, with a wide smile he made his way over to his friends.

They stood up to greet him when he walked over to them. "Sammy, good to have you back, buddy!" Oliver was the first one to pull him into a hug and gave him a pat on the back, "Good to be back." He replied and got a welcome back gesture in form of hugs from Jerry and Frank too.

"I`m glad you`re back in one piece." Noelle said with a smile and kissed his left cheek. They all sat down around the table, Sam nodded a `thanks` when Jerry pushed a glass of brown liquid into his hands.

He took a sip and closed his eyes in satisfy when the familiar burning liquid made his way down his throat. Relief filled him over how easily he fell into back routines with his friends, they laughed and talked like ten months hadn't gone since the last time.

"Who`s that with the TO`s?" Dov asked from the rookie table, the other rookies turned to look in the direction of where Dov`s beer pointed, but they all whipped their head back when one of them coughed out their drink.

"Are you ok?" Traci rubbed Andy`s back and gave it a light pat. "yeah yeah, I`m fine." She grabbed the napkin in front of her and started to dry her shirt, while her eyes stared at the familiar face across the bar.

"That`s Sam Swarek." Gail cut through her reverie, eight pair of eyes looked interrogatively at her. "He`s been in deep cover for Guns & Gangs, heard he recently made a major bust on some big shot. He`s coming back to fifteen now." Andy narrowed her eyes to him across the room, "_that son of a bitch_" she muttered under her breath, he met her gaze and raised his glass to her in acknowledgement.

"Do you know him?" Traci whispered quietly to her and looked at her, she shook her head in a hurry and looked around the table to see if anyone else of the rookies noticed his greet, she blew out a relieved breath when she realized the others still had their focus on Gail.

When Chris motioned to get them another round she got to her feet and pushed him down in his chair with a smile. "I`ll get it." He shrugged his shoulder and smiled to her as she walked away from the table.

When she reached the bar she rested her weight on her elbows on the bar top, waiting for the bartender to spot her. She looked over her left shoulder when someone came to stand next to her, her eyes met deep brown ones, she turned her body around to face him and pursed her lips together.

"Bet you never thought you`d see me again?" He asked her and gave her a smirk, she snorted at him. "I was hoping on it." Her eyes rolled around when she saw him raise his eyebrows in surprise and amusement.

"As in not seeing you again, jerk." He earned himself another eye roll and didn't even try to restrain the laugh that escaped his lips. "Tell you what, let me buy you a drink as a peace offering."

"I prefer to buy my own drinks." This time it was him that rolled his eyes. "Suit yourself." She watched him with narrowed eyes as he went back to his table. "What can I get you?" The bartender asked and forced her eyes away from the back she chased down an alley two months ago.

Her eyes flickered back to him after she placed her order of drinks and stood waiting for them, her mind came up with some appropriate curse words for him, again he smirked at her and that's when she again forced her eyes away from him.

"How do you know McNally?" Oliver asked in the same second he took his seat again and saw him smirk at Andy, he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't." Oliver eyed him and then threw a look back to the bar, only to catch the back of Andy as she walked back to her table with a tray of drinks.

* * *

She had just made back to her table and put the tray with drinks down when a firm arm slid around her waist. "Hey." She smiled to herself by the familiar voice in her ear, she turned in his hold and pushed herself up on her tip toes to place a quick peck on Luke`s lips. "I didn't think you`d make it."

He smiled down at her and shrugged one shoulder. "I`m taking a quick brake, I was hoping to talk to you about something." She rested her weight on one hip and furrowed her brows a little. "Sure, what`s up?" He tipped his head in the direction of the backdoor. "Mind if we do it outside?"

She nodded and followed him outside, once the door closed behind them Luke turned. "Why did you choose to specialize in undercover work?" He watched her as she winced a little. "How did you know that?" He drew one hand through his hair and took a breath.

"Well, when I didn't find you among the list of the rookies who wants to specialize in detective I asked Boyko, and he told me." She pursed her lips and nodded a little. "I just assumed you wanted to aim for detective." He pocketed his hands and looked curiously at her.

"Not really." His hands came up from his pocket`s and waved between them. "So you`re aiming for undercover? You do know that we-" his finger pointed at her and then at himself. "are going to have a hard time being together if you go undercover."

She drew in a deep breath and flickered her eyes away from his wounded stare. "This isn`t something I decided today, this is something I`ve thought about for a long time." She heard him let out a frustrated sigh and when her eyes met his again he was walking towards her. "Maybe you should give it some more thoughts."

She saw the disappointment in his eyes when he brushed past her, she closed her eyes and tilted her chin up to the open sky over her. "Luke wait-" The slam of the door behind her stopped her from finishing her sentence. She took some steps back and sat down on the steps behind her, and let her head fall down in her hands.

Sam saw Luke walk through the bar, and the look he had on his face didn't go unnoticed either. When he realized she never came back inside he excused himself from the table with a bathroom excuse and slipped out the backdoor.

Andy`s shoulder`s jumped by the sound of the door slamming again behind her, but she didn't lift her head from her hands to look who it was. She felt someone take a seat next to her on the steps, and when she inhaled through her nose she noticed it wasn't Luke`s cologne, it was the same intoxicating smell that forced its way through her nostrils a few minutes earlier.

"Trouble in paradise?" She snorted when the voice confirmed her theory on who it was, her eyes came up from her hands and again she met deep brown ones. "Not really your business, is it?" He grinned and trailed his tongue along the back of his teeth`s.

"Are you always so feisty?" She wanted to laugh at him, but she was just not in the mood. "Are you always such a pain in the ass?" The grin she found fascinating appeared again. "Guess that`s my answer then."

"Why are you even here?" She bit out and pushed herself off the steps. "Maybe I just needed some fresh air." She turned to stand in front of him, crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. "And you just had to do it in _my _air?"

She watched him as he laughed at her and got to his feet in front of her. "I can take _my_ fresh air wherever I want to." Suddenly something snapped in her and her palms landed on his chest and shoved him up to the brick wall behind them. "Do you have any idea how much trouble I got for losing a suspect?"

He swallowed a little dryly out of surprise, but then anger took over. "Listen _sweetheart, _you risked my fucking cover and you did actually arrest someone, and that-" He took a hold of her shoulders and pushed her gently away from him. "Delayed my whole takedown with two months, so excuse me for not feeling bad for you."

Her fist`s clenched by her side`s and she gritted her teeth, she watched him draw his hands tiredly over his face and then to roll his head on his shoulders. "I almost lost my job because of you." She was disappointed in herself when her voice failed her and sounded small and vulnerable.

His eyes came to meet hers again, he narrowed them and took a step closer to her. "I almost lost 8 months of hard work because of you, so I really couldn't care less."

She snorted and brushed past him, opened the back door and for the third time in a short period of time it slammed shut again. Sam let out a frustrated breath rubbed his temples with his fingers, her last sentence echoing in his ears.

* * *

She practically threw herself down in her chair when she came back to her table. "What`s up with you?" Dov asked when he noticed the look on her face. "Nothing, I`m fine." She grabbed a shot from the tray on the table and downed it, earning herself curious looks from everyone at her table.

"What?" She snapped, causing them all to shrug their shoulders and look away. She locked eyes with Sam as he walked back to his table, but rolled hers and downed another shot.

"So that`s the new rookies, huh?" Sam asked the other by his table when he took his seat again, his head slightly tilted in the rookie's direction. "Yeah, they come in all ways this year." Frank shot in the conversation. "So I see. Peck huh, I do not envy the trainee of her."

Noelle gave him a look and threw out a `thanks` and took a long sip of her beer. "So, McNally, any chance she`s Tommy`s kid?" Again Noelle gave him a look and snorted. "She is, but nothing like her dad though."

He pursed his lips and moved his eyes to her frame across the bar again, chuckling a little when she meets his gaze and gives him another of her eye rolls.

"Don't even think about it Sammy, Callaghan is all over her already." He snorted to Jerry`s statement. "That doesn't surprise me, but no, she`s not my type." For the third time Noelle gave him a look and where about to say something but thought the better of it when he threw a look right back at her.

"How long will you grace us with your presence this time?" Oliver asked and gave him an almost pleading look. "Till Boyd gives me a call." He offered him his famous grin in an apology.

"Have you heard Boyko`s latest idea?" Frank asked and looked at Sam who shook his head to the sides in reply. "This year the rookie`s get to choose a specific area they want to specialize in, and get trained by the very best in that area."

Sam`s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "Seriously?" Four heads nodded around the table, they all just as shocked as him the first time they heard it. "Is it too much of a wild guess to say that it has something to do with having a Peck among the rookies?" This time four head shook their heads to him. "Sammy boy, it's safe to say you hit the nail on the head." Oliver piped in and lifted his glass in a toast, the other followed his move.

"Who is _that_?" Dov asked and lifted his chin in the direction of the blonde in the door opening. "Hello-o hottie." Traci placed her palm under Dov`s jaw and pushed it back in its place. "I swear, sometimes, you are like a horny teen boy." The table laughed at Traci`s joke, but something across the bar caught Andy`s attention.

"Back to old arrangements?" Jerry asked with an amused smirk when he saw the woman at the door and Sam threw some bills down at the table. "Shut up." The rest of the group chuckled at him as he walked away from them and towards the blonde.

Across the bar Andy snorted out a laugh when she saw Sam circle one arm around the blonde's shoulders, and led her out of the bar. "I think it`s so cool that the chief is letting us try out the areas we want to specialize in." Chris said excitingly, forcing Andy to put her attention back to her friends.

"Yes it is, and working the street`s is just _so _cool." Gail laughed out and raised one eyebrow to him. "Hey, someone has to work the streets." Chris defended and received smiles and nods from everyone else.

"Hey Andy, guess you`re looking forward to Luke showing you the life of a detective?" She pursed her lips together and took a sip of her beer, stalling out on Chris`s question. "I already know the life of a detective, and it`s not something I want."

Traci smiled warmly to her, the only rookie who knew how much her dad`s previous occupation screwed up her childhood, while the other rookies looked puzzled at her.

"So what did you choose then?" Gail asked with suspicious in her eyes, Andy shrugged her shoulders. "Undercover work." She said nonchalantly without offering any more information.

"Rock and Roll, McNally." Dov lifted his palm up between them and grinned at her, she slammed her palm with his and offered him a wink. "Well then, Swarek will most likely be the one to train you." Gail said and took a sip of her beer, watching Andy carefully.

"Why`d you say that?" She asked and tilted her head in curiosity, Gail grinned at her. "I might have heard something from the higher ranks that he`s coming back to fifteen." She watched as Andy`s eyes rolled around. "That doesn't mean anything, maybe he`s coming back to work the streets."

This time Gail smirked and shook her head a little. "I might also have heard something about Swarek teaching away his tricks, you know, he`s a badass with the UC work." Andy avoided Gail`s hard stare and started to shrug her jacket on.

"The whole guy is an ass." She mumbled while she tugged some bills up from her pocket and threw them on the table. "See you guys tomorrow." She gave them a wave and stepped out to the fresh air outside the Penny.

She turned around to face the door when it opened immediately after it closed behind her, she smiled awkwardly when her eyes met Oliver`s. "You need a ride, McNally?" He asked while he fished up his keys and spun the ring around his finger.

"Actually I was going to walk, could use some fresh air." He nodded to her and started to walk with her down the parking lot. "How do you know Sammy?" She met his green eyes when she looked over at him by his question. "_Sammy_? I don't know any _Sammy_."

She stopped to look at him when he stopped in his tracks next to her, he gave her a stare and rolled his eyes to her. "Swarek. How do you know him?" She pursed her lips together and shook her head to the sides. "I don't. Have a good night, Shaw."

He watched her with narrowed eyes as she walked out of the parking lot of the Penny and down the street in the direction of her home.

* * *

The next morning Andy came rushing into parade with her hands fumbling to get her tie in its place, she let out a relieved breath when she didn't find Boyko in front of the room. She lifted her arms and looked at the watch on her wrist, furrowed her brows when she realized she was actually late.

She looked up and met all eyes of the coppers in parade room, she followed their stare and her eyes landed on the big glass office in the middle of the bull pen.

In the office she found Boyko in a deep conversation with Sam, she was fast to turn when Sam`s gaze met hers for a second. With pursed lips and her gaze straight forward she walked up to her seat and sat down.

Awkward silence had replaced the usual eager chatting in parade room, everyone had their ears perked, in hope to catch some words from the conversation in Boyko`s office, though they all knew that if they wanted in on that conversation they had to learn how to read on lips.

After a few minutes Boyko came to the front of the room and coughed to claim the attention away from Sam, who was standing leaned up against the wall in the back of the room in civilian clothes.

"Morning everyone. First of all, let's give a warm welcome back to the one and only Sam Swarek." All officer`s in the parade room cheered up and gave the man in the back of the room winks, he returned their winks with showing off his dimples.

"Alright, rookies, listen up!" Boyko shouted over the cheering crowd and waited till silence filled the room again. "Our new project starts today, and you will all be assigned to officer`s in their specialty to get a glimpse of what they do. Nash and Peck, you are with detective Barber and Callaghan." Traci looked over to Andy and stuck her finger in her mouth, drawing out the picture of being nauseous of having to be around Gail for her. "Diaz you are with Shaw. Epstein and McNally, you have the joy to join Swarek today."

Andy sucked in a deep breath, silently cursing herself for picking undercover work, Dov on the other hand seemed over the top excited. She dared herself to peek over her shoulder and stared right into his brown eyes, she made a frown and turned her attention back to the front of the room.

When Boyko dismissed them she got to her feet and followed Dov to the back of the room, they stopped in front of Sam and he eyed them both up thoroughly. "You two don't exactly look like you could pull it off under the grid."

Andy narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh and you do?" Dov`s jaw dropped and he nudged her with one elbow to silently tell her to shut up. Sam`s lips perked up in a smirk and he pushed himself off the wall, leaned a little into her personal space. "Fooled you, didn't I?" He whispered in a huskily laugh, she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him, not sure why she felt a shiver run up her spine.

With a smirk on his face he pulled back and stared at her, and then his eyes flickered to something behind her, she turned her head and met the same wounded eyes from last night. "Can we talk?" She pursed her lips together and shook her head to the sides. "We`ll do it after shift, Luke."

Luke blew out a heavy breath from his chest. "Andy, I really don't like the way things ended last night." He tried his best to say it as low as possible, but knew he had failed when he saw the grin on Sam`s face behind Andy.

She bounced her palms between them, motioning for him to calm down. "Neither do I. We`ll talk after shift, I promise." He nodded in relief and leaned down and placed a tenderly kiss on her forehead before he stepped back into his office.

With a smile on her face she turned around to face her superior for the day. "Where do we start?" Sam`s grin got wider and he wiggled his eyebrows. "By getting you out of that uniform."

Andy`s jaw dropped a little before she smirked at him and then brushed past him, making sure her shoulder bumped roughly into his, and down the hallway, with Dov hot in her heels. "What`s up with you and Swarek?" He asked when he fell in step with her down the hall, she shot him a glare. "Nothing."

When her path led her to the door of the women's locker room she pushed herself through, and walked over to the locker with vicious in her step and pulled the door open. While she made quick work of unbuttoning her uniform shirt she cursed everyone that came to her mind.

Fully clothed in her civilian clothes she gave herself a look over in the mirror, tugged the hair tie away from her ponytail and let her hair fall over her shoulders. She let out a heavy breath before she closed her locker and began her path back out of the locker room.

Once she was out the doors she crashed into a human wall, her head whipped up and stared into those brown, now familiar eyes. She felt two firm hands on her shoulders, steadying her. A blush stole her cheeks, but her eyes took a spin when she saw the amused smirk on his face.

"Someone seems a little excited to get to it." She shrugged his hands off her shoulders and narrowed her eyes and snorted. "In your dreams."

Her eyes widened in shock when she realized her palms where placed on his chest, quickly she pulled her hands away from him and shoved them into her back pockets. She forced her eyes shut when she felt another blush creep over her cheeks, but quickly snapped them open when laughter echoed in her ears.

"Get your friend and meet me in viewing room one." He turned on his heel and started his path down the hall. Her hands came up to her face, but were quickly placed back in her pockets when she met his gaze over his shoulder.

She wanted to reach her tongue out to him, but decided for the better and turned to find Dov. With a sigh she peeked her head through the doors of the men's locker room. "Dov? You almost done?" She heard an echo of a closing locker in the room and Dov came to stand in front of the doors.

"How do I look?" She blinked her eyes hurriedly in shock and amusement. "Like yourself?" She laughed out loud when he rolled his eyes to her. "Dov, seriously?" Again he rolled his eyes and brushed past her in the door. "I just want to make a good impression."

She fell into step with him down the hall, laughter still escaping from her lips. "You`ll be fine." He stopped and gave her a glare. "You do realize you`re still laughing, right?" Before she could answer he started to walk again.

"I`m sorry!" She laughed out and jogged to catch up with him again, she grabbed his arm to stop him when he was about to walk past viewing room one. "We`re in here. You`ll be fine, Dov." She flashed him a toothy grin and he couldn't help to smile back to her.

They walked into the room and met Sam on the other side, leaned up against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Dov widened his stance and locked his hands behind his ridiculously very straight back, she looked over to him and had to bite down a laugh at his position.

"So what`s next?" She asked with her hands waving in front of her, she raised her eyebrows in anticipation when he pushed himself off the wall. "Black coffee, no sugar." She tilted her chin up so her eyes could let out her frustration on the ceiling.

She was about to turn to go fetch his coffee like an obedient dog would, but an overeager Dov beat her to it. Her eyes met his again and he stared at her with an amused gleam in his eyes. "So why did you choose undercover work?"

He watched her as her shoulders shrugged and her eyes looked everywhere but at his. "Just find it interesting." He nodded in understanding and were about to ask her more questions when an out of breath Dov came through the doors with a cup in his hand.

"Black-" He reached the cup over to him and took a much needed breath. "no sugar, sir." He took the cup from him and took a sip, made an unsubtle frown and placed it down on the table in the room. Sam crossed his arms over his chest again and cleared his throat.

"Let the _fun_ begin."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I'm going to be flat out honest and say that I had some regrets after publishing this story a few days after I did, not because I'm not having fun with it and not knowing what to write. I have the plans memorized in my head and scrabbled down on post-its, but it was a little harder than I thought it would be to actually get it all down on paper in one piece.**

**I also ended up bugging my beta-reader with two one-shots that I just had to get out there, while she was editing this, so I kind of slowed down the progress of getting this chapter done.**

**Thanks to SoWritten for being brave and taking on the job at tidying up my mess ;) She's a trooper! And thanks to you guys for your reviews, alerts and patience ;)**

* * *

She rolled her eyes as she watched Dov take his place, pulling out his notepad and pen, seated like it was his first day in school. She frowned, knowing that usually she would do the same. But today she wasn't feeling it; and it was all because of _him._

Her eyes closed as feelings of regret washed over her. She shook them off, this was what she'd always wanted. Luke's eyes, filled with hurt, which she'd been staring in to the past two days, had caused those feelings of regret. And she could not, would not, allow it to doubt her decision.

She closed her eyes and visualized how this was her chance to become someone else other than Andy McNally; a chance she had wanted ever since parents screwed up her childhood. When she opened them again she met the stare of his deep brown eyes. His stare caused her to swallow, and shifted nervously in her seat.

The feeling his stare awoke in her was, unfamiliar; she pursed her lips and rolled her eyes at him. Her behavior caused Sam to narrow his eyes at her.

"Epstein, was it?" Dov's head whipped up, but Sam's eyes never left Andy's.

"Yes sir," he squeaked out.

"Take five," Sam growled out in a dangerously low tone.

Andy looked over at Dov and shrugged her shoulders, Dov got to his feet and she mirrored his action.

"McNally," he looked at her "I said Epstein."

She froze and sucked in a deep breath, Dov squinted his eyes at her before he left the room.

Carefully she moved her eyes up to meet his, only to drop her gaze immediately and take her seat again.

"Why are you even here?"

His tone caused her worry her bottom lip, and started to fidget her notepad.

"Isn't that obvious?"

His snort forced her eyes to meet his. He was leaning towards her, his hands flat on the table. She could read the doubt in his eyes.

"Oh yeah?" he said.

"You see, I don't think so. You are not paying attention at all and you are being too smart for your own good."

Her eyebrows shot up and she pointed her index finger at her chest.

"I'm being smart? Really? Because, seriously, you're doing a hell of a lot better job at it than I am."

She'd gotten to her feet while she was speaking and was now pacing the room, her hands flailing around somewhere above her head.

"Here's the case; I really don't want to be here, but since I have no choice I might as well do my best. And I expect you to do the same."

She stopped to stare at him, furrowing her brow, confused by his sudden release of frustration at her.

Swarek crossed his arms over his chest and took a deep breath.

"And I'm your superior and you're going to treat me like I am, got it?" he snapped at her. His words accompanied by a hard stare.

"Yes sir," was all she managed to say from shock as she dropped her gaze while shoving her hands down in her pockets.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as he let out a frustrated sigh of frustration.

"Go ahead, take five."

She was out the door the second he finished his speaking. He sat down on the table and dropped his head.

* * *

"Hey girl," Traci came to stand next to her by the coffee stand, "so your boyfriend took me to the morgue today, I freaked out, all those dead bodies."

Andy spun around in time to notice the disgusted look on her friend's face.

"Sorry, if it's any consolation I would too," she said as she made a pathetic attempt at smiling.

Traci laughed and gave her a warm smile, but narrowed her eyes as she noticed the look on Andy's face.

"Hey, everything okay?"

Andy moved her gaze away, but Traci followed her, refusing to let her friend ignore the question.

"Yes," Andy mumbled. Traci raised her eyebrows, crossed her arms over her chest and simply waited, staring Andy down.

"No…. I screwed up with Luke… And with this Swarek guy."

"Explain?" Traci commanded as she lowered her eyebrows.

"I didn't tell Luke I opted for undercover which resulted in an uncomfortable situation," Andy's shoulders shrugged and she worried her bottom lip.

"I wish I was in the position to say that you haven't known the guy long enough to _have _to tell him that, but I'm the one who's hiding the fact that I have a kid from my, uh, lover. So actually I don't really have ground to say anything.

A giggle escaped Andy's lips before she gave her friend a genuine smile.

"You really should tell him about Leo, that kid is just too loveable to hide."

Traci smiled widely before her eyes caught something behind Andy's back.

"He's a good looking guy that Swarek, got that whole bad ass thing going on."

Andy wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips together, Traci snorted at her.

"I mean, he's no Jerry, but he's not exactly hard on the eye."

Traci poked her in the arm when she noticed Andy's cheeks turning a shade of pink. Andy tried to save face by looking away from Traci, but her cheeks colored even more as Sam walked by.

Sam caught her eye as he walked through the bullpen. She diverted her gaze immediately as he let out a frustrated sigh and went to stand next to Oliver and Jerry outside the D's office.

"Hey brother, how are your rookies treating you?" Oliver asked as he took a bite of his tuna sandwich.

Both men watched their friend as he rubbed his hand roughly over his face, frustration clearly radiating off him.

"I don't know who I'll kill first; him, her or me," he growled, earning him chuckles from his friends. He was soon left alone with Oliver as Jerry caught a glimpse of Traci sneaking into viewing room two and subtly tried to follow her.

"Could he be more obvious?" Sam laughed out and Oliver shook his head in reply.

Oliver's eyes moved to the brunette rookie at the coffee stand, Sam followed his gaze and took in a sharp breath.

"She a good cop?"

Oliver's eyes moved from Andy to Sam and narrowed them a little when he noticed how Sam's didn't leave her.

"She definitely has the potential, but the screw up on her first day has haunted her."

Sam turned his head back to Oliver, his eyes widened and a frown grew on his face.

"What screw up?" he asked, though he already knew which screw up Oliver was talking about.

"She lost a murder suspect," Oliver squinted his eyes, "conveniently enough in your alias' neighborhood."

Sam's eyes fell to the floor as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"She got herself a nice cut on her lip when he escaped from her,"

Oliver tilted his head, pursed his lips and kept squinting at Sam as he winced, witnessing how all the muscles in his friend's body stiffened.

"That's how you know her, isn't it?"

Sam's jaw tightened and raised his fingers to pinch his nose, but remained silent.

"You do realize she could have lost her badge because of that, right?" Oliver lifted his chin in the direction of Jerry had gone in "Jerry gave her a good taste of his temper."

Sam's other hand moved to the back of his neck and he rubbed it roughly.

"I couldn't risk it, I never meant to-" he closed his eyes and took a breath, but opened his eyes when Oliver's hand rested on his shoulder.

"You don't have to explain it, I get it."

Sam nodded and patted Oliver on the back before he started his path towards the coffee stand. Andy handed him a cup as he came to stand next to her.

His fingers brushed against hers as he circled the cup. She quickly withdrew her hand, startled by her body's response.

"Black, no sugar?" she asked carefully. He nodded and answered her with a smile.

"Hey," Sam turned at the sound of the familiar voice. His eyes rolled as Luke moved in from behind her, placed one hand on her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. Her cheeks flushed as she locked eyes with Sam the same second he stepped away from them.

"Hi. I heard you took Traci to see some dead people today," she said nervously, making an ill attempt at light conversation. She caught Sam looking over his shoulder at them as he walked in the direction of Boyko's office.

"Yeah, I did. She needs to toughen up a bit," Andy couldn't stop her eyes from rolling at Luke's cocky remark.

"Give her a break. It was her first time."

He smiled at her, only for a second before looking at her with a serious look on his face.

"So, we'll talk after shift?" he asked as his arm came up to rest on her shoulder.

She nodded and brushed her hand against his, "I'll wait for you."

His smile was dreamy as he nodded and quickly scanned the barn before leaning down.

She tilted her head up to meet his lips, but got disappointed when he just kissed her forehead before walking away. Her arm awkwardly swiped through her hair and her eyes moved to the big glass office in the middle of the bullpen.

Again her eyes met his and she realized that it was becoming more difficult to tear them away. She was grateful when Dov came to stand in front of her, blocking her view.

"How awesome is Swarek or what?"

Laughter escaped from her lips and her eyes glowed of joy at Dov's obvious man-crush behavior.

"I get it Dov, you _looove_ him," her laughter continued as Dov dropped his head, raised one eyebrow and then moved his eyes to meet hers.

"McNally, my office now," Boyko's voice cut her laughter, ending the conversation between the rookies. She straightened her back immediately and with a firm nod she let her feet lead her to her staff sergeant's office.

* * *

Andy's heart sped up as she had to brush passed Sam, who was holding open the doors. Her palms went sweaty and she didn't dare to look at him as she passed him. Too scared for her body's reaction. She regretted her snarky behavior earlier. She'd been pissed because he had told her off and was scared that because of it she might not get the chance to go undercover.

"Have a seat, McNally," her staff sergeant commanded. She did as she was told and waited for Boyko to speak.

"You wanted to see me sir?" Andy froze when she heard another familiar voice behind her. Apparently they were pulling out the big guns. Her mind went into overdrive, trying to figure out what she had done to get her in this much trouble this time.

"Yes," Boyko answered, "take a seat detective."

She closed her eyes fearing for what was to come as Jerry took a seat next to her.

"Officer McNally, it has come to my attention that the suspect you lost on your first day wasn't the murder suspect we are looking for," Boyko started, pausing to gauge their reactions.

Both Andy's and Jerry's eyes widened in shock. Although Andy knew both of them were in shock for a different reason.

"What do you mean? Who _did _she loose then?" Jerry first looked at Andy and then at Boyko, his eyes radiating with curiosity.

"She caught an undercover officer," Boyko's eyes softened as he met Andy's frightened look. "Sam Swarek."

The small, encouraging, smile on Boyko's face caused relief to flood through her body. Muffled laughter escaped from the chair next to her, as Jerry did his best to hide his amusement.

"You took down Sammy? How the hell did that happen?" Andy shrugged her shoulders. This had been recent news for her too. She'd only known since that evening in the Penny and she was still having a hard time believing it.

"I believe you owe officer McNally an apology Detective Barber," Boyko said with raised eyebrows, waiting patiently for Jerry to do as told.

She heard a snort, causing her to frown.

"She still lost a suspect, even if it was Sammy. She should have been able to arrest him."

She had to suppress her laughter after hearing Jerry's ridiculous remark. She knew better than to fight this battle, he had a point. She should be able to take down anybody, anywhere, anytime.

"Officer Swarek was very clear that officer McNally did everything right that day."

Boyko's words shocked her. Never had she expected him to say that.

"That means we're taking this investigation in the wrong direction," Jerry said, pinching his nose in frustration.

"The direction you were taking things was heading towards a dead end anyway," Boyko's eyes met Jerry's," but you can thank officer Swarek for this."

He handed him some sheets of paper with Sam's handwriting on it.

"That should be able to get you somewhere."

With the sheets of paper in his hand Jerry pushed himself up from the chair and started his path towards the door. Clearly frustrated.

"Detective, aren't you forgetting something?" Andy's eyes widened at Boyko's question and she started to shake her head in disbelief.

"That really isn't necessary," she lifted her eyes from her fidgeting hands to look at her staff sergeant, but his eyes were locked on Jerry, who let out a sigh.

"McNally, I deeply regret accusing you of letting a murder suspect escape."

The sarcasm in his voice wasn't lost on her and she struggled to prevent an evil little laugh from escaping her lips. After all he was right, she did lose a murder suspect at the time. It didn't really matter that now her suspect turned out to be a cop.

"McNally, you can get back to your training officer now," Boyko smiled at her when she got to her feet.

"Thank you sir," she said and hurried out of his office, down the stairs and through the hallway to where her training officer and co-rookie waited for her.

* * *

"How nice of you to join us officer McNally."

Sam's voice was empty. He didn't even look at her. She took her seat and grabbed her pen and notepad waiting for him to start his lecture.

"Rules of undercover," he started again and just as eagerly as Dov, she started scribbling down Sam's words as a headline on her notepad and waited for him to continue.

"First rule; become your alias. Leave yourself behind and become whoever you're supposed to be."

Andy smiled at the first rule; she could easily forget about her life and live someone else's. She looked at him while she waited for him to continue his citation of the rules. Her cheeks burned when she realized he was staring at her.

"Thoroughly familiarize yourself with your assignment, the "role" you will play and whatever else you need to know, then demonstrate to your handler that you are ready for the assignment," Sam paused, waiting for both the rookies to finish writing.

"Second rule; as you continue to work on your undercover assignment, adapt and adjust as often as necessary to keep your credibility and your role believable. Work the plan, _and then_ make the plan work.

Third rule; be prepared. For anything. Observe your surroundings; make sure you're on top of the game. Your cover can be blown at any, unexpected, time. Always have a backup plan just in case. Improvise when needed.

Fourth rule; don't do anything stupid," he paused for effect.

She rolled her eyes while she wrote the rule down. When she looked up he had raised his eyebrows, crossed his arms over his chest and was staring down at her. She bit her bottom lip and looked at him, apologetically. Which was a waste of time because he wouldn't stop glaring at her.

"Continue to follow all rules and regulations of the department you are working for as best you can without compromising your undercover assignment."

Andy let out a relieved sigh when her shift was finally over, even if they hadn't worked the streets she was still exhausted. She stopped by the D's office on her way to the locker room and poked her head around the corner only to find Luke buried in files at his desk

"Hey, ready to go?" but before he could answer she already knew. She knew the second she found him hunched over the files. _Story of my life_ popped up in her mind.

"This will take a little while. Wait for me at the Penny?"

If she were honest, she really didn't want to go to the Penny. All she could think of was how she just wanted to go to bed and let sleep take over. But she needed and wanted to have this conversation with him. With a forced smile she nodded and told herself it was all worth it when he smiled at her.

Traci joined her in the hallway as she was walking towards the locker rooms.

"Jerry told me about the-" Andy shut her eyes and put one hand up. Stopping her friend from continuing.

"Please don't, I'm too tired to talk about it. And I don't want you to be forced to take sides."

Traci stopped walking and gave her a stern look.

"Girl, I might be sleeping with the guy, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with him when he's being a douche to my best friend," Traci slung one arm around her shoulders and guided them further down the hall.

* * *

As the two girls made their way through the doors of the Penny Andy's eyes moved to the table where she knew Sam would be. He caught her eyes and when she motioned her head to the door he furrowed his brows but gave her a small nod.

"I'll be right back, Trace. Get me a beer?"

Traci eyed her suspiciously and when Sam brushed past her she raised an eyebrow in amusement, earning herself an eye roll from Andy.

He pushed his way out the door and held it open for her to step out after him. Andy stood still in the middle of the parking lot and turned to look at him. She found him leaning against the front of his truck, arms crossed over his chest.

"Look," she started off nervously, moving closer to him, "I wanted to thank you for talking to Boyko."

"Don't mention it," he moved his hand as if he was trying to wave away her words, "wasn't your fault."

"I still lost a suspect….," she muttered, clearly disappointed with herself.

"Hey, you did everything right," he bent his knees slightly to lock eyes with her, "you still tackled me and I'm awesome," he flashed her his dimples, that only got bigger when she tried to hide her blush, "so you did good."

She nervously tucked a couple of stray hairs behind her ears,

"Yeah, but you still got away," her eyes narrowed when a chuckle escaped from his throat.

"Like I said; I'm awesome," his chuckle transformed into a smile when she started to laugh.

"Thanks anyway," her arms crossed over her chest and she met his eyes.

"No problem. And the lip," his index finger pointed to her mouth and spun in the air between them, "sorry it split."

"Yeah, thanks for that. It's fine now, you did what you had to do."

She reached her hand out for him to take; he curiously looked down at it before a smile spread across his lips.

"Fresh start?" she offered.

He cautiously shook the hand she was holding out. His warm fingers brushing against her palm just long enough for her to startle and pull back her hand. She dropped her chin a little in a weak attempt to hide her blush.

"You and Callaghan, you guys serious?" the question surprised her, causing her eyes to flail up to his as she bit down on her lip.

"We'll see, it's still early on," she shrugged her shoulders and pursed her lips.

He nodded, in a slow motion.

"Let me buy you that drink," a grin appeared on his face, bringing out those dimples that kept making her blush.

"Traci's already got it covered," she said as she shook her head.

The grin disappeared, as he pushed himself off the truck and started to walk back to the Penny. She turned on her heel and followed him.

"So we're good, right?" she nervously rambled next to him.

"Yup, all good," he held the door open for her. They split once they were inside, each walking to their respective tables.

"What was that about?" Traci asked while she offered her one of the beers she had in front of her.

Andy shrugged one shoulder and took a greedy sip from her beer.

"Nothing." She told her friend, but she could feel that her facial expression was giving her away.

Traci gave her the 'I'm-not-buying-it' look Andy knew so well. With a sigh she put her beer back on the table and moved a little closer to Traci.

"Remember that murder suspect I lost?" Traci nodded, her eyes filled with curiosity, "that's him."

Traci followed the direction in which Andy was pointing the beer bottle and her eyes landed on Sam.

"No way!" Traci screeched, attracting the attention from the table next to them.

Andy placed her finger against her lips to get her to settle down.

"Yes way," she looked over to him again, and met his eyes, "he admitted it to Boyko today."

Her eyes held his while she said it and Traci moved her eyes between them. She kicked Andy's leg under the table to get her attention.

"Caught in a daze?" she asked with a teasing smile, and let out a laugh when Andy's head shook franticly.

Traci's eyes moved to the doors of the Penny and lit up when Jerry stepped inside, with Luke trailing after him.

"Who's caught in a daze now?" Andy mocked and bumped her shoulder to Traci's.

"Yeah…But unlike you, I have no trouble admitting it," Traci winked at her and was about to continue when Luke walked over to them.

"Hey," the smile on his face caused Andy to smile too, "can we do that talk here?"

Her smile turned into a frown as she looked around in the Penny.

"Some officers on patrol found a body, so I have to get back to the barn in half an hour."

Traci wrinkled her nose in disgust as she thought of the trip to the morgue she took earlier today. Luke noticed and chuckled before looking expectantly at Andy.

"Yeah, sure," she got to her feet and looked at Traci, "I'll be right back."

Luke's arm circled her shoulders and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head while he guided her towards the exit.

While they walked out Luke greeted a guy who was on his way in.

"Who was that?" Andy asked out of curiosity, as she hadn't seen him at the Penny before.

"Donovan Boyd, runs guns and gangs," Luke said as they walked towards his car.

He sat down on the hood and pulled her down on his lap. A giggle escaped her lips as his arms circled her waist.

She turned her head and placed a kiss on his lips.

"You look good today," she said with a playful smile as she pulled him back to her lips by tugging at his tie. He gave in after a few seconds and kissed her again.

"As much as I would like to do this till I have to get back to work," he said between light kisses, "we do need to have that talk."

She placed one last kiss on his lips.

"Yes, we do," she pulled away from him and looked into his eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked as he caressed her cheek with his left hand. She worried her lip and fidgeted with his tie before her eyes went up to lock with his blue eyes.

"I don't know," she traced her thumb over his lips, "look, I really didn't think it was necessary. We've only been together for a month and a half. But I am sorry I didn't."

Luke let out a sigh, took her traveling hand in his and kissed the back of her palm.

"Andy I get that, but if you want us, this, to work," he waved his finger between them, "we'll have to be honest and open with each other."

She nodded and framed his face with her hands.

"I promise, from now on, I will tell you," she murmured against his lips.

He smiled the dreamy smile she'd fallen in love with, and took her arms to lay them around his neck.

"I have to get back to work," he whispered in her ear.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then," she pulled away and got up from his lap.

She turned when she heard three familiar voices behind them.

Chris, Dov and Gail gave her a nod as they walked towards the Penny. She leaned in and pressed a quick kiss on Luke's lip before she jogged after them.

"Bye," she called over her shoulder and got a glimpse of Luke smiling at her as he got into the car.

"Hey guys," she called out and her fellow rookies turned towards her, "wait up!"

Dov slung his arm around her shoulder as she fell into step next to them.

"Hey bad ass," he said with a grin causing Andy to let a giggle escape her lips.

Chris held the door open, and they stepped inside. Andy's eyes immediately found Sam's who was in a conversation with the same guy Luke had greeted just a few minutes ago. He held her gaze for a few seconds before his attention turned back to the conversation.

Andy joined the others at the table she'd left a few minutes earlier and was greeted by Traci's pearly whites. They all sat down at the table falling into an easy chatter.

She washed away the nervous feeling she got when she noticed Sam walking towards their table with a gulp of beer. Unfortunately the feeling was persistent and came back directly after she swallowed.

Sam and his friend halted next to the rookies' table and with his hand he gestured towards the other man.

"Epstein, McNally. This is Detective Boyd."

The detective nodded at them. Dov quickly jumped to his feet and extended a hand, causing both Sam and Andy rolled their eyes at him.

Andy followed her fellow rookie's move and offered her hand. Boyd shook both their hands and Andy and Dov sat back down, nursing their drinks.

"Boyd runs guns and gangs," Sam said while his eyes shifted between the two of them, "and he has been kind enough to agree to cooperate with your undercover training."

Just the thought of going undercover got Andy all excited and she could tell by the excitement in Dov's eyes and his wide smile that he felt the same way.

"Epstein," Sam said and then his eyes shifted to Andy, "McNally."

She felt something flutter by the way her name rolled of his tongue.

"You are going undercover."

* * *

_Still bearing with me?_


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Even if it's been a little while since my last update this chapter actually came very easily to me. And that is all thanks to the encouraging reviews from so many of you, they really help the motivation to keep going, so thank you to each and every one of you. Hopefully the lenght of this chapter will make up for the wait.**

**A _huge_ thank you to SoWritten for her extra set of eyes on this, the time she puts down in it and for her patience when it comes to me ;) Another thank you goes to Sillygyrl for sharing her knowledge on Toronto. :)**

**AN2: To help you separate what happens during the UC-operation from what happens in surveillance I've written the surveillance scenes in italics.**

* * *

Andy walked through the stations gym and up to Sam with a challenging look on her face and one hand on her hip.

"Got anything good?" she said with a sultry smile as she stood still in front of him.

"McNally," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "you're not walking the runway. This isn't a modeling gig."

Laughter from behind Andy caused her to glare over her shoulder. Dov's hands were wrapped around his torso, soothing the pain of his laughter attack.

"Really Dov?" Andy asked, turning and crossing her arms over her chest, "thanks for the support."

When Dov's laughter settled down he raised his hands, as in an apology for his behavior. A cough from Sam caused Andy to turn to face him again, noticing the empty grin on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Look, you're supposed to buy drugs," he said, gesturing with his hands in front of him while his shoulders shrugged, "you're making it sound like you want to do…_other things._"

Andy wrinkled her nose in disgust and rolled her eyes when a chuckle escaped from Sam and the laughter from Dov started again.

"How am I supposed to do it then?" Andy asked as she raised her shoulders only to drop them just as fast again and let out a sigh. Sam drew a tired hand over his face.

"Just don't overdo it," he bent his knees to catch her dropping gaze, "remember, you're an addict, you've been buying drugs for a while. Pretend like it's the most natural thing in the world."

Sam gave her a sincere smile when she nodded.

"Yeah, yeah you're right," she said and returned his smile as her hands fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.

"Hey Swarek," Dov started, with a confident grin. A grin that faded when Sam stared at him with raised eyebrows. "I mean sir," he corrected and gave a small shake of his head.

"What is it Epstein?"

Dov came walking towards them.

"How come we can't do any busts at this thing?" When he noticed the narrowed eyes on Sam he immediately regretted his question.

"Don't get ahead of yourself _rookie_," Sam growled, "Boyd's crew will make the bust when the case is _ready._ And this _thing_ is just a taste for you guys to feel how it is to pose as someone else, that's why the _only_ thing you're doing is to buy drugs."

Dov folded his hands in front of him, straightened his back and tipped his chin up.

"Of course, sir."

Sam didn't say anything, just stared at Dov till he dropped his gaze. Andy noticed the awkward moment in the room and clapped her hands together; the sound her palms made caused Sam to look away from Dov.

"So…anything else we should do as preparation?" she asked, in an attempt at lightening the mood. Sam's eyes found hers; his stare caused her to squirm as she tucked a stray of hair behind her ear.

"You shouldn't shower until you're going-"

"Excuse me?" Andy cut him off before he could finish. Sam rolled his eyes and gestured with his hand to her hair.

"At least not wash your hair or something," she threaded her fingers through her hair and looked at the tips of it as he said it, "it will look more greasy that way."

Sam noticed the confused looks on both of the rookie's faces, "you look too clean."

Dov's eyes searched over Andy as he nodded, "you really do."

Andy rolled her eyes at both of the men staring at her, "I really don't see it as a bad thing that I look clean," she crossed her arms over her chest and rested her weight back on her heels.

"It's not when you're you," Sam said with a smile and continued to explain when he noticed her furrowed brows, "but not when you're a drug addict."

Andy's brows stayed furrowed, but she gave him a nod and a quick smile.

"Yeah, yeah you're absolutely right."

Dov nodded with her and then; "Should I drop the hair washing too?"

Andy had to cough to cover her smile as she saw Sam roll his eyes at Dov.

"No, it already looks greasy enough the way it is," he said and grinned at Andy when she failed to contain her laughter, "but maybe you should lay off the shaving for a few days." Dov's hand came to his chin, feeling the smooth skin beneath his fingers.

"That's a good idea sir, thank you."

He dropped his hands and took in a deep breath before he tentatively asked the one question that had been on his mind since the start of the training.

"Sir, is it possible to have a girlfriend when you work undercover?"

"How would I know?" Sam replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice, slightly caught off guard by the blunt question the rookie asked him. Confused, Dov looked from Andy to Sam.

"I assumed you had a girlfriend," he started and when Sam's arms crossed over his chest with an agitated look, he continued, "the hot blonde? At the Penny?" Andy watched as Sam's eyes squinted.

"My private life is none of your business."

Ashamed, Dov made an apologetic gesture with his hands, but Sam turned his eyes over to Andy, holding her gaze until she tore her eyes away from his. Then he made his way between the two rookies, walking towards the door.

"Alright then, four days and you two are drug addicts, use those days to practice."

Both of them nodded eagerly at Sam as he disappeared out the door leading out to the bullpen. As soon as the door closed behind him, Dov swatted Andy's arm.

"Hey, you started it." Andy laughed out as she slung one arm around Dov's shoulders and started to walk with him in the same direction as Sam.

* * *

"He told you not to shower?" Traci laughed out the question as she took a sip of her wine and watched as Andy threw out one outfit after the other from her dresser in her bedroom. Andy turned to face her, with a frown on her face.

"Yeah, apparently I look too clean." she held up a green halter neck top that caused Traci to shake her head from her position on Andy's bed.

"That's…" Traci tilted her head and gave Andy a look, tip to toe, "actually, he's right, you do look very clean."

Andy let out frustrated breath and threw the green tank top at her, giggling a little when she heard Traci's laughter when the top covered her wine glass.

"I take clean over dirty any day," she muttered in the same second as her head turned and her hands dug down into her dresser again. Traci pushed herself up from Andy's bed and walked over to her.

"Alright, what do you got?"

Traci snorted at the denim skirt Andy held up in front of her, and then she butted Andy out of the way and dug her hands down in one drawer. She pulled out a pair of jeans and grinned.

"How fond are you of these?" She asked and when Andy shrugged her shoulders her grin got wider. She walked out of the room only to come back a second later, with a scissor in her hand.

"What are you," Andy started and when she saw her friend cut holes in her jeans, "Traci!"

Traci laughed as she continued to cut holes in the jeans.

"Relax; it will be great, I promise."

* * *

Andy stepped into the observation room, brows drawn together when she met Sam's surprised look.

"Believable enough?" she asked with a small, insecure smile.

He looked at her, starting at her worn out shoes, that looked like they've been walked in for decades, then his eyes continued up her worn out jeans with holes and dirty spots, showing off a hint of her skin. Then at what looked like it had been a white or a yellow tank top when it was new. And that was clearly a while ago.

She had taken his advice in not washing her hair. Three days her head had avoided the stream of water when she had showered. Sam wasn't sure if the dark circles under her eyes were real or if she had used make-up to make it look like she had been dead for the past week. One thing he was sure of, she did look believable.

"Yeah," he said and returned her smile, watching as her insecure smile turn into a satisfied grin.

Dov came walking in behind her, him too in worn out and dirty clothes. Sam and Andy looked at him and then they both fell into laughter, Dov looked questioning at both of them.

"What?"

Sam pointed at his face and chuckled loudly.

"Looks like you and Jerry share the slow progress in growing facial hair."

At that same second as Sam said it Jerry stepped into the room, just in time to catch his mocking remark.

"Just your lovely self as always, aren't we?" he asked and smirked at Sam, who only chuckled louder as he folded his hands in his lap.

"I'm lovely, thanks Jerry; I appreciate you finally admitting how you feel about me."

Jerry smacked the file he was holding in the back of Sam's head.

"Let's get to business, shall we?"

Sam nodded and then cleared his throat. He took the file Jerry held out to him and reached for Andy to take. She made an attempt to take the file without touching him, but his fingers brushed over hers, sending that charge of awareness over her that caused her to swallow dryly and close her eyes for a second. When her eyes opened again she opened the file, holding it between her and Dov so he could see.

"The guy you're buying from is Louie," Jerry spoke as their eyes skimmed the file, "remember; this is not _our_ case, we're just letting you guys test the water and observe."

The two rookies nodded in understanding, Andy closed the file and handed it to Sam. In fear of repeating her body's reaction she dropped the file; too soon for him to actual get it. His eyes fell down to the floor, raising his eyebrows at the sheets of the file spread out on the floor.

"Crap," Andy muttered as she crouched and started to pick up the sheets and collect them into the file. She saw Sam's hand reach out when she had the file safely secured between her fingers, she arched her neck back to allow her line of sight to rise, and meeting his amused narrowed eyes and a hint of those dimples she had begun to notice a lot more than before.

He took the file from her as she straightened her spine and stepped back to stand next to Dov, letting her hair fall in front of her cheeks to hide her blush. With a grin Sam got to his feet.

"The one of you that does the assignment best tonight gets a reward."

Both of the rookies grin matched Sam's.

"What's the reward?" Andy asked as she looked between Sam and Jerry.

"You'll have to wait and see," Sam said and smiled a huge grin, so those dimples bore holes in his cheeks, "keep that in mind as a motivator for tonight."

* * *

As they walked down the hall of the station, ready to get out on the streets, Luke came walking, on his way in. Andy slowed her pace, her eyes meeting Luke's as he came walking closer towards them. Sam glanced over his shoulder at her as Luke passed him, but continued to walk with Jerry and Dov down the hall. Luke stopped when there was a small distance between him and Andy.

"Good luck tonight," he said in a tone of his voice that made Andy's shoulders hang and her hands shoved down into her front pockets.

"Thanks."

They stood staring at each other, none of them saying anything else before Andy let out a sigh and made her way around Luke.

"Andy…," she turned to look at him as she kept walking backwards down the hall, "have fun," he said with a small smile.

Andy's lips curled up into a grin and she jogged back to Luke, she framed his face and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. When she pulled apart Luke's small smile had gotten wider and his eyes glowed of joy.

"McNally, get your move on!" Sam called from the end of the hall, staring at the kissing couple further up. Andy turned and jogged her way down the hall, smiling over her shoulder to Luke as she went.

When she caught up with Sam they followed Dov and Jerry out to the parking lot of the station, where Traci and Gail stood talking with Chris and Oliver.

"Okay, McNally, Epstein and I will take the van," Sam nodded in the direction of the surveillance van; "Barber and his mini's will take his car."

Traci made a frown at Sam's nickname for her and Gail, Sam grinned at them before he looked over at Oliver.

"Shaw and Diaz will be out on patrol, in reach in case we need backup."

Sam stepped over to the van as he said it, waving with his hand to get Andy and Dov to follow him, and like obedient puppies, they did. The others got in their cars and one followed by the other, they drove away from the station.

* * *

_Sam looked over at her as they sat in the surveillance van, him in the driver's seat and her in the passenger seat. Her eyes were locked on Dov, who was walking down the curb, on his way to pose as a drug addict buying drugs._

"_Nervous?" he asked her as he kept his stare on her. _

_Her eyes stayed on Dov walking down the curb, feeling a little proud and surprised over how confident he seemed. She shook her head in reply to Sam. When she felt his eyes on her, she turned to face him. His eyebrows was raised, lips slightly parted as he grinned. _

"_You know you're a crappy liar right?"_

"_Fine, maybe a little." When his chin dipped and he gave her an amused look, she let out a half sigh, half laugh. "Okay, more than a little," she confessed and then her expression shifted to a worried look, "a lot actually." _

_The smile he gave her caused her brows to furrow as she bit the inside of her cheek._

"_You should be," when he saw how her eyes widened he chuckled a little, "it's a good thing, McNally." _

_Her eyes relaxed as she dropped her gaze, staring at the floor of the vehicle, only to look up again when he bent his head to get her to look at him again._

"_You'll be fine," he said and a sincere smile spread across his lips, which caused her to smile too. His smile transformed into a grin as he looked down, shook his head a little as a chuckle escaped from him, when he looked up she was staring curiously at him with her head cocked to one side. _

"_Just… don't screw up," she rolled her eyes, but fell into chuckles with him as she swatted her hand after him. His chuckle got louder when she missed as he moved away from her arm. Startled by what her immediate reaction to his words was, she embarrassedly looked away and watched Dov again. Her mind spinning, over how she was going to pull this off. _

"_Hey," his voice caused her to look back at him, worried and nervous written all over her, "don't overthink it." _

_Again, his smile caused hers to mirror his, and his words made her feel more confident. Relaxed even. They turned to look when the backdoor to the van opened and Jerry stepped in, Gail and Traci following right behind. _

"_Has the show begun?" Jerry asked as he reached over a coffee holder with two coffees in them over to Sam. He took the holder, lifted out one cup and handed it to Andy before he grabbed the one that was meant to him._

_Sam nodded briefly in the direction of Dov, almost standing face to face with the dealer at the corner. Sam turned up the volume on the radio and bent forward in his seat so he could rest his elbows on his knees._

"Hey pal," Dov's voice came over the radio as they watched him through the windshield, "I was looking for some place to buy some stuff so I can get high."

Louie, the dealer looked up and down the street before he locked eyes with Dov again, "what do you need?" he asked as he gave a signal to the guy standing next to him.

Dov stuffed his hands in his pocket, shoulders high up, almost touching his ears and shivered slightly. Giving off a good act as like he was in desperate need of a hit.

"Al Capone," Dov said and sniffed a little, "I need a dose of Al Capone."

_Jerry smiled and looked at Sam as Dov used the slang word on the streets for heroin._

"_Kid's not that bad," he said and Sam nodded with him, impressed by Dov's vocabulary in drug slang._

The guy standing next to Louie walked over the street, his gaze on the car parked on the other side. The driver of the car pulled down the window when he came to stand in front of it. A few words were exchanged before the driver shook hands with the guy.

_Jerry came to stand next to Sam and Andy, hands in the pockets of his suit as he watched the trade. _

"_These guys are not high up on the food chain," he started and got a nod from Sam and a confused look from Andy. One of Jerry's hands came up and waved at the scene in front of them._

"_They're doing the dirty work while someone else collects the money," Andy nodded in understanding at Jerry's words, "question is who the big boss is?" _

The guy offered his hand out to Dov, and he wasn't slow on taking it. He gave a light pressure so Dov would feel the small bag in between their palms. He slid his hand slowly out of the guys, and stuffed his hand with the bag down in his pocket.

""That's 20 Abe's," Louie said, and when Dov pulled out the money and reached them out for him to take he shook his head. "Give it to him," Louie's head tilted to the man that had given Dov the drugs, he did as he was told and watched as the man put the money in an envelope.

"Thanks man," Dov said as he began to walk away.

"_Nicely played, Epstein," Sam spoke into the radio. _

_They watched him as he walked down the street, in the opposite direction of the surveillance van and his training officer and coworkers were in._

"_Go Dov," Traci cheered from her place on the bench from the back of the van. Gail rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her coffee._

"_Oh come on, anyone can buy drugs, it's not like its rocket science," she said, earning herself looks from everyone else in the room. Everyone; except from Andy, who was swallowing nervously and sliding her sweaty palms to her thighs. Which didn't go unnoticed by Gail._

"_Don't worry Andy, I'm sure you would kick ass at rocket science," she continued, a smirk on her lips as she said it. _

_Gail's hand immediately flew down to rub her calf at the spot Traci had just kicked her. "Ouch, what was that for?" she asked as her hand soothed over her calf. Traci raised her eyebrows and did a bitchy move with her head._

"_For being your lovely self," she said and then a smirk appeared on her lips as she narrowed her eyes, "frosty."_

_Sam and Jerry exchanged a look between themselves, a look that told the others exactly how stupid they sounded. Just when Gail was about to say something the door to the back of the van opened behind them and Dov stepped inside. _

"_Way to go, Epstein," Traci cheered and got up from her chair to give him a high five._

_Proudly, he grinned and slammed his palm to Traci's. A snort came from the blond in the van and Dov looked down at her._

"_Congrats Dov, you make an awesome addict," she said and gave him a smirk. Dov ignored her and walked up to Sam, Andy and Jerry._

"_Sir, how did I do?" he asked and got surprised when Sam's hand reached out in between them. Dov shook his hand, being extra aware of having a tight grip, and smiled._

"_You did good, Epstein."_

_Andy's wide smile caused Sam's eyes away from Dov and rested on her, doing his best to hide the smile that forced its way on his own lips. _

"_Alright McNally, you're up next," he said as he released his grip on Dov's hand. His eyes went back to Dov when he didn't release Sam's hand. _

"_Epstein, mind if I get my hand back?" A blush crept over Dov's face as he immediately released his hand._

"_Sorry, sir."_

_Sam gestured with his hand to the door as he looked at Andy. She nodded and started to walk towards the back of the van._

"_Go get 'em, Andy," Traci said as she passed by her, with an encouraging smile that made Andy feel more secure of herself.__Sam stepped outside with her; she turned to face him once the door was shut behind them._

"_Oka-ay, fake it 'til you make it," she said and started to walk away._

_She froze when his fingers curled around her wrist to stop her. _

"_McNally," she turned to face him by the call of her name, "no faking it, just pretend like you're someone else, and tell the truth as close as you can." Startled by his fingers still around her wrist she was only able to nod before her eyes fell to her wrist, and then back up to his. _

"_Sir?" she started, "I sort of need my hand back to do it," she lifted her hand as she said it, so he could see that his fingers were still holding on to her wrist. He chuckled and smiled that grin that caused his dimples to show as he released her wrist. Dimples, that caused butterflies deep down in her stomach._

"_Try not to have too much fun out there," he said in a chuckle as he turned to get back inside the van._

She shook her head as she smiled and started to walk the direction she'd been told to walk. She walked around the block so she wouldn't raise any suspicion among the dealers and addicts around on the street.

_Sam and Jerry watched her as she came into their sight; she stopped at the top of the street. Sam grabbed the radio._

"_Don't overthink it, McNally," he spoke and watched her as she jumped__a little when his voice reached her ear. _

She shook her head and hands slightly before she started to walk again. Staring nervously at every person she walked by. She noticed a guy holding a young girl close to him, clearly by force, next to Louie and the other guy she was supposed to buy drugs from.

"No, let me go." She heard the girl beg as she walked by. She knew she should just keep walking to her destination, but she didn't. She stopped.

"_What is she doing?" Jerry asked Sam as they watched her. Sam's jaw tightened and he grabbed the radio again. _

"_Keep going, McNally."_

_When he saw she didn't, he let out a growl and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Overeager rookie," he muttered, just loud enough for Jerry to hear it. _

The girl started to pull away from the man, but he tightened his grip around her and leaned in to kiss her. The girl wriggled in his grip, desperate to get away from him. "Let me go!" she cried out.

Andy's fists clenched and unclenched by her sides as she took a step closer to them.

"Let her go," she said in a calm, but stern voice.

The man pulled back from the girl, but didn't let go of her. Amused he stared down at Andy.

"Why? Because you say so?" he said and laughed at her. Andy took another step closer to him, ignoring Sam's growling words in her ear.

"_Andy, back off!"_

"No, because _she_ said so," she said and looked at the girl and then back up at the man. He was smiling at her, and it made Andy sick to her stomach.

"You wanna join us?"

The man reached his hand out to try and grab Andy's to pull her close to him, but she saw it before it was coming and used both of her hands to grab his. Not noticing that her fast motion caused the speaker plug in her ear to fall out and down to the ground, leaving her with only the microphone attached to her bra so Sam could hear her.

She held the man's hand steady with one hand; she used the other to push his thumb back, so it was pointing at himself.

"Aaarh, you bitch!"

_Sam's eyebrows shot up to his hairline by the sight, and so did Jerry's. _

"_Sammy, we gotta go in," Jerry said at same time as the other rookies came to stand next to them. All equally surprised._

"_Just…let's see if she can wing it," Sam said calmly, but the worried look on his face told otherwise._

Andy smiled sweetly at him, "_Let her go_."

And because he couldn't bear anymore of the pain, he did. The girl mumbled a 'thanks' and started to run down the street. Andy released the man's hand and stepped back. Both of the man's hands came up between them and just when he was about to grab Andy, someone stepped in between them.

"Barry chill out," the person said and pushed the man back so he, again, had his back rested against the brick wall.

Andy's heart was racing, shocked and proud over what she just had done. Her eyes met the man that had stepped in between them, and she realized it was the person she was originally supposed to approach. Louie.

"So, tell me, what's a sweet girl like you doing in this neighborhood?" He stood in front of her and smiled. The sight of his teeth made Andy frown, but she quickly covered it with a smile.

"I was just looking to score," she said and put her thumb between her teeth, chewing on her nail.

_Jerry had an amused expression on his face as he turned to Sam, "looking to score?" Sam rolled his eyes and turned back to keep Andy in his sight_.

They guy grabbed a hold of Andy and pulled her to him, causing her squirm in his hold.

"Oh, I'll help you with that," he said as he leaned and sniffed her cheek. Andy placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back.

"Yeah thanks for the offer pal," she started and when she got out of his hold she said "but I was talking about some coke."

Louie grinned at her and gave a nod to his partner, who immediately ran over to the car again. As she waited she dropped her gaze and shifted her weight from one foot to the other, feeling uncomfortable under the Louie's stare. She let out a relieved breath when the other guy came running up to her and reached his hand out.

She shook his hand and felt the bag with cocaine between them; she did the same thing she saw Dov had done. Once the content was safe in her pocket she pulled up some money.

"Naah, sweetheart, that was on me," Louie said as he winked at her. Andy smiled and took some steps back.

"Thanks," she said as she turned on her heel and started her path back the way she came from, walking as fast as possible to get away from them.

"My pleasure." She heard him call after him.

Pleased with herself Andy slowed her walk after a few feet with a satisfied grin on her lips, completely oblivious to the footsteps behind her.

"_Swarek, he's following her," Traci said a little panicked behind his shoulder. Sam didn't answer her; he just lifted the radio to his mouth._

"_McNally, he's following you, we'll get Shaw and Diaz to pick you up," he watched her as he said it, noticing that she didn't make any indication that she heard him._

"_I don't think she's hearing you," Jerry said and got himself a hard, sarcastic stare from Sam. Sam lifted both hands up towards the sight of Andy disappearing around a corner._

"_Clearly I can see that," he growled, his tone sounding calm but the worried expression on his face revealed the complete opposite. He opened the door to the driver's side and jumped out. _

"_Sammy, where are you going?" Jerry called after him, but the only respond he got was the door slamming behind him. When Jerry and the rookies looked out the window, they saw Sam running down the curb, in the direction of were Andy had walked._

"_Shaw, Sammy needs some back up in the alley __of Regent Park."_ _Jerry called into the radio._

"_We got it," Oliver's voice came over the radio._

Andy felt her heart leap up her throat when she became aware of the footsteps behind her, she was about to turn when two hands grabbed her around her waist and pulled her backwards, till her back was pressed to a chest. When the person smelled her neck she realized who it was that had grabbed her.

"You smell nice," Louie whispered into Andy's ear, causing her to squirm in his hold, "you wanna have some fun with that angel powder?" He traced his tongue up her throat as his hand travelled down her body. Andy tried by her best ability to get out of his hold and control of his travelling hand.

"Please don't," she pleaded, and when he did the complete opposite as his hand travelled to her behind and giving it a rough squeeze she started to scream. Louie was fast to stop her screams by covering her mouth with his palm.

"Sshh, you can scream all you want later, baby," he murmured into her ear as the hand on her behind circled her waist and pressing her against him so she could feel his erection against her spine.

"Hey!" she felt herself relax when she heard the familiar voice she so desperately wanted to hear, and when Sam grabbed Louie by the collar of his shirt from behind it caused Andy to fall on her back. She propped herself up on her elbows on the ground as she tried to get control of her breathing. She watched as Sam turned Louie, fisted his hands in his shirt and pushed him roughly up against the brick wall.

"Keep your hands off of her," he said in a tone that caused Andy to furrow her brows and wrap her arms protectively around herself as she continued to sit on the ground. Sam's jaw was tight and she could see every muscle in his body tensing as he held Louie up against the wall.

"We're just having some fun," Louie said as he smirked, earning himself a tighter grip on his shirt.

"She doesn't want to have _fun_ with you," Sam spat out, "now get the fuck out of here."

He released Louie and pushed him down the street, watching him as he stumbled for his balance on his way. Sam turned to face Andy, staring at her as she sat, breathing heavily with her arms around herself on the ground. She couldn't tell if the look in his eyes were worry or anger.

He closed the distance between them, bent his knees as his fingers circled her bicep and hauled her up to her feet and close to his side. That's when she knew he was angry. Both of them where breathing heavily as he started to steer her down the curb. His grip on her arm was so tight that it would have caused Andy to wince if it wasn't for that she had to concentrate on keeping up with his fast speed.

He walked her down a few blocks, glanced over his shoulder and then pulled her with him into a dead end alley. Standing in the middle of the alley he let go of her arm, raising his own hands between them.

"What the hell were you thinking, McNally?"

Andy made a frown as she rubbed her bicep, soothing the aching spot after his hold on her. He didn't seem to notice as his rage continued.

"I could have sworn I saw you write down those rules," he started, pacing back and forth in front of her, "clearly I was mistaken." Andy's eyebrows knitted together, feeling slightly embarrassed that she had screwed up.

"I'm sorry," she said, dragging out the sorry and then; "I wasn't paying attention, but it I would have been fine, sir."

She jumped a little and closed her eyes as he snorted at her and took some steps closer to her, her hand slid down from her arm and wrapped around her torso. When her eyes opened again he was staring at her.

"Did you see that guy, McNally?" he hooked his thumb over his shoulder, "because I sure as hell did," he said as he took another step closer to her, "and you would _not_ have been fine."

The intensity of his eyes caused her to squirm as she opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it as he took some steps away from her. She watched him as he inhaled what looked like a heavy breath.

"Sir-" he held up his hand to stop the words that were about to be said.

"And that stunt you pulled with that other guy? Not you're best move, McNally." Andy's eyebrows shot up and her hands fell to her sides, clenching them tight so her knuckles turned white.

"Seriously? What was I supposed to do?"

Sam sucked in another breath and his hands lifted up between them again.

"Oh I don't know, McNally, how about minding your own god damn business?"

Andy let out a laugh, like he just had told her best joke she had ever heard. Sam's eyes narrowed at her and he bent his knees a little as he cupped his ear and tipped his head to the side, "what was that? You think that's funny, huh?"

He closed the distance between them, both feeling too angry to care that they were standing in each other's personal space.

"I sure as hell don't think so."

She could feel his breath on her lips, his words causing her to narrow her eyes at him and as her arms lifted to cross over her chest; her elbows roughly touched his heaving chest.

"So you would just let him do that to her? Is that what you're saying? Well, I," she said as lifted her hand up from under her arm and pointed her index finger at herself, "don't work like that."

She held her ground, watched him as he dropped his gaze and his hand came up to rub the back of his neck as he stepped away from her.

"The way you worked tonight, pissing off people twice your size, in a _bad neighborhood_," she tried to get a word in but he shook his head at her, "and not paying attention to Louie following you."

He pursed his lips as he swallowed what looked and sounded like a dry one, "you put yourself in harm's way, Andy."

The look in his eyes caused Andy to tilt her head, brows drawn together as a moment of clearness swiped through her. But the look in his eyes was all gone after he blinked. He waved his hand in the direction they had come from, avoiding her eyes as she looked at him and then started walking back out to the street.

Out on the street Oliver and Chris stood next to the cruiser, waiting for them, both had worried looks in their eyes.

"Take McNally back to the station," Sam said as he walked passed them and kept walking down the street, not turning to look at her once.

Oliver's hand on her back caused her to tear her eyes away from Sam, and making her way into the back of the cruiser. She bent her head as she stepped inside and when she was seated Oliver bent to look at her.

"You okay, McNally?" he asked in that fatherly voice he often used when he spoke to her.

He smiled to her when she nodded at his question as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms and shivered. Chris offered her his uniform jacket; she smiled a grateful smile to him as she took the jacket and wrapped it over her shoulders.

"Let's get you back," Oliver said and closed the door.

* * *

Andy scrubbed her throat in the shower stall of the division with the sponge she kept in her locker, desperately trying to wash Louie's smell off of her. She kept scrubbing over every spot of her body that he had touched, and when she finally felt she had washed him off of her, she tipped her chin up under the pouring hot water. Enjoying how it felt against her face.

"Andy?" She heard Traci call from the door into the shower stalls.

Andy turned to face the door, still standing directly under the streaming water, her hair covering her face like curtains.

"Are you okay?" Traci asked in a clearly worried tone.

Andy's hands came up to her face and pushed the hair away, she took a step forward so her head came out from the water.

"I'm fine, Trace," she said as she grabbed the towel, "I'll be right out."

She wrapped the towel around her frame, and tucked the ends of the towel under her arms to hold it in place. Her flip flops made a padding noise when she walked into the locker room. Traci sat straddling the bench in front of their locker. Staring at her with that worried mommy look she had every time she told Andy that Leo had hurt himself during playing.

"Trace," Andy started as she walked towards her, "you can wipe that look off of your face."

Traci's eyebrows shot up and an amused smirk appeared on her lips. Andy opened her locker, stuck her hand in and grabbed her hairbrush. She started to brush her hair as she stared down at Traci.

"Trace, I'm fine." She said, and to prove her point she smiled her happiest smile. Traci snorted at her.

"I'm not buying that, but fine," she said as she got to her feet, "I'll let it be….for now."

Andy threw the hairbrush back inside her locker and took out her clothes. As she started to get dressed she saw Traci narrowing her eyes and biting on her lip.

"What?"

Traci turned and leaned her back to the door of her locker.

"How mad was he?"

Andy chuckled out a laugh as she fastened her bra and grabbed her shirt.

"Mad." She shook her head as her index finger came up to point between them, "no, pissed actually."

Traci nodded in understanding, watching Andy tug the shirt over her head and straighten it down her waist.

"He tried to not let it show in the van, but," Andy looked at her, eyebrows raised, "failed."

Then a grin came over her lips as she bit her bottom lip gently, "you should have seen him when he ran out after you," she started, "this worried look on his face and a speed like he was in a hurry to save your ass."

Traci's smile widened as she looked at Andy.

"I think he _likes_ you."

Andy made a face as she hopped her jeans up her legs.

"I know you're all in detective state of mind, but seriously," she said as she did her buttons on her jeans, "your detective skills suck."

Traci rolled her eyes as Andy smirked at her, in the same second as she closed the door of her locker.

"They do not, I'm totally rocking this," she said with a grin, that all of a sudden faded and she let out a sigh, "too bad I'm being compared to the future staff sergeant."

Andy tilted her head and looked at her friend.

"I'm sure the last name doesn't have that much weighing," Traci snorted and Andy nodded in agreement, "besides, its room enough for both of you to be detectives."

Just when Traci was about to reply there was a knock on the door to the locker rooms. The girls stared baffled at each other before Traci turned and looked towards the door.

"Yeah?" she called.

"McNally, are you decent?" Sam's voice came through the door.

Andy's eyes widened while Traci grinned as she started walking towards the door.

"Traci, no, where are you going?" Andy asked as silently as she could, her hands moving in front of her in panic. Traci grinned over her shoulder to her.

"See you tomorrow."

Andy glared at her as she watched her open the door.

"She's all yours," Traci said and grinned at him, but then she turned on her heel and stared at Andy over her shoulder. "My detective skills do _not_ suck," she winked and passed a confused looking Sam in the door opening. He stepped inside, the door closing behind him; briefly he gave her a smile.

"Did I interrupt something?" she shook her head at his question as she pulled out her duffel bag from her locker and placed it on the floor.

He took some steps closer inside, causing her to stiffen in her place, fearing he was still pissed at her. He stopped in his tracks, looking at her with worried loopy eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked carefully.

She nodded and gave him a quick harried smile.

"Yeah, fine, totally fine."

He pocketed his hands, eyes drifting from her to the wall behind her and back to her again.

"Look, about tonight,"

She stopped him by putting her hands up.

"Sir, it's fine, I screwed up," her hands fell to her sides as she shrugged her shoulders, "but I'm not going to apologize for helping that girl."

He inhaled a long heavy breath, furrowing his brows as he exhaled,

"You have to understand that it's my job to make sure you're safe out there," he paused to inhale a breath as one hand came up to his neck before he continued; "and the situation you put yourself in wasn't."

Andy just stood there, unblinking, next to her locker. The hand on Sam's neck slid around to his front before it fell down to his sides; Andy's eyes followed it on its way down.

"Sometimes, I come across as a little harsh," he said, watching her as her eyes left his arm and came up to his. She pursed her lips as slid her hands down in her back pockets.

"I'll keep that in mind."

He took some steps closer to her again, this time she didn't stiffen; she locked eyes with him as he stopped in front of her. Her pulse sped up when he, gently this time, circled her bicep, inspecting it for a bruise as his fingers brushed over the skin.

The worried wrinkles on his forehead smoothed out when he couldn't find any. Unable to tear her eyes away from him she kept staring at him. Suddenly noticing how good he smelled, how thick and long his inky lashes was and how soft his hair looked this close. His eyes moved away from her arm and to her eyes as he let go of her arm. Deep, chocolate, brown eyes staring, intensely into hers, were causing her breath to get caught in her throat. She lost count on how long they stood there, staring at each other, feeling every inch of her body blushing.

She had to swallow the sigh that threatened to escape her lips when the doors of the locker room opened and some female officers came walking in. His eyes moved away and he stepped away.

"Need a ride home?" he asked and she was fast to shake her head.

"Thanks, but I got one with Traci."

He pursed his lips for a second and then nodded.

"Ready to get out of here?" he asked as he smiled softly to her, she returned his smile and nodded.

"Yes sir." She fell into step with him on his way out of the locker rooms, bending under his arm as he held the door open for them to step out, her shoulder and hip brushing, gently against his chest and torso as she did.

* * *

Gail came walking towards the locker rooms, first crossing Sam and Andy in the hall and then Dov; she stopped and narrowed her eyes at him,

"Epstein," she started and waited for him to stop in front of her, she looked around, making sure no one was in ears reach as she continued in a low voice; "don't tell anyone I said this, but you rocked it tonight, had me impressed even."

Dov raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Why didn't you just say so back in the van?"

A smirk appeared on Gail's lips in the same second as Traci walked passed them in the hallway.

"Rumor has it," she tipped her head after Traci, "that I have a name to live up to."

When Dov's surprised look turned into a confused one, one of Gail's hand squeezed his shoulder as she started to move around him while her other hand pointed at her. "Frosty."

Dov watched her walk down the hall, a hint of a bounce in her step as she pushed herself through the doors to the women's locker room. A slightly smile decorating his lips.

* * *

As Andy and Sam walked side by side down the hall towards the exit that led to the parking she wrinkled her forehead and chuckled at this awful ringtone that came from Sam's pocket. He rolled his eyes at her as he pulled the phone up and growled as he fidgeted to press the answering button.

"Yeah?" he said as he looked briefly over at Andy, "oh hey, Monica," he dropped his eyes from Andy, not even sure why himself, "yeah, on my way now."

Andy pursed her lips as she kept walking next to him, failing badly in not listening to his obviously private phone call.

"See you in twenty," he said as he pressed the end button and pushed the phone down into his pocket again. He looked over at Andy again, eyes narrowed a little and looking like he had some trouble finding something to say.

"You really need to change that ring tone, sir" Andy said and chuckled, feeling relaxed as he fell into chuckles with her.

"Yeah, I know," he said and then chuckled a little more, "I just need to figure out how first."

He winked to her as they stepped outside in the morning air, sun on its way up and a hint of the heat the day would bring. They parted their ways, him walking towards his truck and Andy towards Traci's car.

"Hey, McNally," Sam turned and called after her, when she turned to face him, his dimples came in sight, "call me Sam."

Her brows knitted together, but she smiled and nodded.

"Yes, sir," her eyes closed as a blush spread over her cheeks, "I mean Sam."

He chuckled as he walked backwards to his truck, "good night, McNally."

Andy looked up at the sky, giggling a little.

"_Good morning_, Sam."

* * *

_Thanks for reading and please don't be shy to let me know what you think :)_


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Even if it takes me a little time to get this out there, due to my real life, I had a bunch of fun writing this. This chapter is a long one and there's a lot happening, so if anyone is having trouble keeping up, don't be shy to let me know. A huge thank you for all the help on this goes to SoWritten and rookiebluefan89 :) Another thank you to each and every one of you who read, reviewed and favorited/followed! :D You guys really know how to make a girl happy!**

**AN2: Once again I've separated the actual undercover operation from what goes on in surveillance by writing the surveillance parts in italics, hope it's not confusing to anyone. You may also notice that I've played around a little with some characters storylines (Dex in this one) to help it fit into my story. ****There's aslo some stuff that you probably won't understand much of right now, this will be cleared out in later chapters, I hope. ;)**

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* * *

Sam was looking at himself in the mirror on the inside of his locker room door; fixing his hair when Oliver came up from behind, meeting his eyes in the mirror reflection and giving Sam a quick smirk

"Good thing you came over for dinner last night so Zoe could give you a much-needed haircut," Oliver said mockingly as he ruffled his hand in Sam's hair.

"Knock it off!" Sam barked, quickly smacking Oliver's hands away from his hair.

Oliver rolled his eyes and chuckled, "You know you've got an obsession with your hair, right?"

When the locker door slammed closed a second later, Oliver was soon on the receiving end of a glare from Sam.

"You're just jealous." Sam bit back and looked knowingly at Oliver's head.

Oliver palmed his heart and winced, feigning hurt. Then he threw his duffel bag over his shoulder, following Sam on their way out of the men's locker room after working the day shift.

"Ready to hand your allowance over to me?" Sam asked with a grin on his face as they walked out to the parking lot.

Oliver laughed and shook his head. "It really is good to have you back, buddy," he replied with a sincere smile, "even if I've been the one collecting all the money while you were gone."

Sam chuckled as he unlocked his truck; both men climbing in and taking their seats. In the same second that Sam turned the key in the ignition; he spotted Jerry coming out of the station, with Luke tagging along next to him. Sam furrowed his eyebrows and looked over at Oliver questioningly.

"Please tell me _he _is not joining us?"

Oliver cleared his throat, refusing to meet Sam in the eye. "Yeah, that's also something that happened while you were gone," Oliver said with a frown. "We needed someone to replace your spot."

Sam lifted his eyebrows in surprise, smiling that grin that wasn't hiding his displeasure. He looked out at the two men as they got in their cars.

"Couldn't you have picked someone else? Like… oh I don't know, Andrews? Even Stevens would be a better choice."

Oliver laughed as he buckled up and looked over at Sam. His jaw was clenched and his grip was so tight around the wheel that his knuckles were turning white.

"Just drive and stop being such a girl, Sammy."

* * *

Sam was sitting between Boyd and Oliver, scowling over at Luke who was seated between Jerry and Frank. Oliver dealt out the cards and he whistled lightly in an attempt to lighten the awkward mood around the table.

Luke looked over at Boyd. "How's it going over at Guns & Gangs?" he asked.

"It's good man," Boyd answered before taking a sip of his beer.

Luke looked over at Sam, smiling smugly before he returned his gaze to Boyd. "When are you pulling Sammy back under again?"

Boyd grinned, first at Luke and then at Sam as he patted his hand on Sam's shoulder. "I'm working on a short undercover operation for Sammy boy, just waiting for the right time."

Satisfied with Boyd's answer, Luke leaned back in his chair, arms crossing over his chest and smirking at Sam. Sam didn't hesitate to return the smirk and narrowed his eyes.

"That's great Sammy," Luke started and let out a chuckle before he continued. "Maybe you can take Epstein with you."

All the other men around the table watched with grimaces as Sam grinned widely and rested his elbows on the table.

"Or I could take McNally," he said without a shred of teasing in his voice, the light laughter around the table suddenly non-existent. But a quick moment later, he winked at Luke and chuckled at the thin line on the detective's lips.

Jerry watched hesitantly and saw Luke's scowl. When Luke was about to open his mouth, Jerry quickly got to his feet. "Alright ladies," he said, giving both Sam and Luke hard stares, "Sammy, help me get more beer."

Jerry walked into the kitchen, leaning his back against the counter as he waited for Sam to come in after him. When he finally did, Sam ignored Jerry's stare and instead, walked straight up to the fridge and pulled out some beers.

"What gives, man?" Jerry asked finally; when he realized Sam was taking his time in an attempt to avoid him.

Sam turned his head, his raised eyebrows meeting Jerry's accusing eyes. He shrugged as he turned his whole body and kicked the fridge door shut with his foot. He placed the beers on the counter, widened his stance and crossed his arms defensively over his chest. "What?"

Jerry narrowed his eyes and waved his hand towards the living room. "I get that you and Callaghan don't like each other, but was _that_ really necessary?"

Sam snorted. "He started it," then his shoulders shrugged slowly, "and was it really necessary to invite him over when you know I don't like the guy?"

Jerry let out a chuckle and rested his hand on Sam's shoulder. "You have no reason to be jealous. We still like you better." Jerry teased.

Sam rolled his eyes, shrugged Jerry's hand off of his shoulder and slapped his palm gently in the back of Jerry's head. Finally, a genuine smile spread across Sam's lips when he saw the surprised look on Jerry's face. He leaned up against the counter next to Jerry and stared down at their feet.

"So…." Jerry started and when Sam met his eyes, Jerry smiled before he continued. "What's going on with you and McNally?"

Sam stared at him in disbelief; mouth gaped open slightly, only to close again when he had to swallow the sudden lump in his throat. "Uh…Nothing?"

Jerry scoffed quietly. "C'mon Sam, you really expect me to believe that?"

Again, Sam stared at him in disbelief. Though he realized Jerry wasn't going to give up until he got something out of him, so he let out a sigh and a satisfied smirk made its way across Jerry's face.

"She's a good looking kid," Sam said as he shrugged.

"A good looking kid?" Jerry chuckled in disbelief. "McNally is not a kid and she's more than just good looking," he said and when he saw Sam open his mouth in protest, he cut him off. "Don't even try to deny it."

Jerry took Sam's silence as a defeated agreement. He watched as Sam's fingers reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose and heard him let out a heavy sigh before he continued. "You know the rules-"

Sam cut in suddenly. "Yeah yeah, we're not allowed to sleep with rookies. I know that and you know that. But from what I've seen you're not the best person to be giving me that lecture." He told Jerry, not giving him a chance to continue.

Sam smirked when Jerry nodded, raising his hands in defeat while he laughed.

"Point taken," Jerry said, motioning for them to get back out to the others. "Do you think we can go and make some money now?"

Sam fell in step with him and laughed as he threw an arm around Jerry's shoulders, "_I'm _going to make some money. _Your _money."

* * *

An hour later, the men were highly concentrated on their card game; each and every one of them holding onto their stoic poker faces and waiting for someone to crack. Oliver looked down at his cards and back at the group of men, quickly deciding that he was going to have to use his powers of irritating speech to make them lose their concentration.

"So…" he started, smiling when Luke and Jerry looked up curiously at him. "When are they making it official that you're our new staff sergeant, Frank?"

All eyes looked at Frank; Sam and Jerry with knowing smiles and Luke and Boyd with surprised ones.

Frank returned their smiles with a grin. "Anytime now," he said proudly and then schooled his look to a serious one and pointed at Jerry. "And when they do, _you_ better start being more discrete around the barn."

Jerry's mouth fell open in surprise, before shutting it closed and then shut his mouth into a firm line before he shook his head from side to side. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I hope that's true, Barber." Frank said and chuckled.

Jerry was suddenly flustered. He quickly folded from the round and excused himself to take a phone call. Oliver grinned victoriously and looked around as the rest of the men around the table fell into chuckles.

* * *

.

* * *

When Andy stepped inside Traci's apartment two days after her failed UC-sting, Traci motioned for her to sit down at the kitchen table. She took her seat and watched as Traci worked her way around the small kitchen, making pancakes at the same time as she set the table. Leo came walking into the kitchen a few minutes later, rubbing his fists sleepily in his eyes.

"Hi buddy!" Andy said, watching as his hands came down from his face and a toothy grin made its way across his lips. He ran over to Andy and climbed up in her lap.

"Auntie Andy," he said as he curled his arms around her neck. Traci smiled at the sight as she turned off the stove and carried a plate with a stack of pancakes over to the table.

"Alright, get in your seat Leo. Let's dig in."

"I love working these shifts. Start at 10 am and done at 8 pm. You have time before work and after – it's perfect." Andy mumbled through a mouthful of pancakes.

Leo looked at her with his mouth equally as full and was about to start talking when Traci pointed her finger at him. "Watch your manners."

His eyes shifted over to look accusingly at Andy, who squirmed under his gaze and swallowed her food before she smiled at him.

"So where's….." Andy trailed off, meeting Traci's eyes in hopes that she would catch on to what she was asking.

"He had a slumber party last night," Traci said teasingly, making Andy laugh. "He called me and whined that we can't _say hi_ to each other in the observation rooms anymore."

Traci pouted a little pathetically, causing Andy to snort and give her an exaggerated eye roll. When her pout turned into a smirk, Traci raised an eyebrow and stared directly at Andy.

"Speaking of slumber party guests," Traci started again, continuing to smirk at Andy maliciously. "If I thought Swarek looked good before he got a haircut….."

The pancakes Andy was chewing were suddenly caught in her throat and Traci couldn't help but laugh at her expression. Andy said nothing anyway; she simply narrowed her eyes at Traci from across the table and let her eyes speak for her.

"I'm just sayin'," Traci winked at her.

After they had eaten breakfast and Leo had curled up on the couch to watch some cartoons, Andy and Traci did the dishes.

Andy looked over at Leo in the living room as she dried off a plate. "So…" she started and when she got Traci's attention she continued, "when are you going to tell Jerry about that cute little monster on your couch?"

Traci bit down on her lip and glanced over her shoulder before looking back at Andy, "I was thinking about telling him today and maybe bring him over to meet him after shift."

Andy's lips quirked up in a wide smile. "That's a good idea, Trace."

Traci smiled and then turned to face her friend, arms crossed over her chest and eyes narrowed.

"So…what did Swarek say?" Traci trailed off, rolling her eyes when Andy stared dumbfounded at her. "In the locker room?"

Andy avoided her eyes, turned to put the plates back into the kitchen cabinets. She hadn't forgotten a single moment of her conversation with Sam in the locker room, but she'd been trying not to remember it, because every time she replayed the memory of his unwavering stare, and his cut-glass voice, her stomach would flip flop and a shiver would run up her spine. "There's nothing to tell," Andy answered casually, still keeping her attention to the dishes.

When she finally turned and met Traci's patient stare, she thought about Sam's comment from their talk in the surveillance van. If she couldn't fool her training officer she sure as hell couldn't fool her best friend. So, Andy sighed in defeat before she jumped up to on the counter top and rested her hands in her lap. "He…," she took a deep breath to get control over her emotions. "He apologized… sort of anyway."

Traci's brows drew together as she leaned her hip to the counter. She glanced over her shoulder at Leo, who was still occupied with the TV. When she returned her gaze to her friend she noticed that she had a confused look on her face.

"Did something else happen?" Traci asked carefully, watching as Andy's eyes flew to up to meet hers.

Andy drew in a breath. "I don't know… He's very intense."

"What do you mean intense?"

Andy rolled her eyes. "I don't know Trace, just…intense," she stammered as she pushed herself down from the counter and made her way over to the kitchen table, flipping through some pages in a magazine. Traci padded over soon after, tugging the magazine away from Andy before she sat down and nodded towards the empty chair next to her.

"God, you're pushy," Andy sighed without much bite. There was something to be said for a woman who got what she wanted and didn't just wheedle and whine until someone did it for her.

"Determined," Traci corrected firmly and then shot a knowing look at Leo.

Andy growled and let her head fall down so her forehead could rest on the table. Traci smiled a victorious grin, but when Andy stayed quiet, she nudged her with her foot.

"Sometime before the end of the year would be preferable."

Andy lifted her head and scowled at Traci. "_Fine_," Andy conceded as she pushed herself up in a sitting position again. She blew out a breath and felt her cheeks start burn. "We had this moment..." she paused when she noticed Traci's wide smile and raised eyebrows, "I think… I don't know."

Andy made a face when she heard the sound of Traci's chuckles, and her head fell back down to rest on the table top. Traci followed her and rested her chin on her hands as she looked at Andy.

"You like him." Traci said quietly, almost as if it was to herself.

Andy's head shot up from the table. "No! I'm with Luke," she argued, speaking way too fast to sound convincing and the tone of her voice gave away more than she was comfortable with. As soon as Andy peeked over, the smile on Traci's face told her she wasn't believing one word of it.

"Well, I didn't mean like _like_ him, but that you're obviously attracted to him," she stated cleanly before she leaned back to enjoy the sight of a very uncomfortable Andy.

Eventually, Andy spoke again. "He told me to call him Sam." It was almost a whisper; a stark contrast to the slam she heard a moment later when Traci's palm met the table.

"I _knew _it."

Andy rolled her eyes and licked her lips. "That's not a big deal Trace! You call Jerry by his first name," she argued weakly.

Traci snorted, but moved her eyes away from Andy when Leo came running in to the kitchen area. He ran over to the fridge and opened it, pulled out a candy bar and started to walk back out to the living room.

"Hey there young man," Traci's stern voice caused Leo to freeze before he had made his way out. He turned to face them, hiding the candy bar behind his back. Traci reached out and waited for Leo to place it in her palm. With his head hung down he walked back to living room, candy-less.

"Geez, give the kid a break," Andy said as she watched Leo's sad eyes as he curled up on the couch.

Traci narrowed her eyes at her. "I'm introducing the kid to my potential boyfriend. It would be nice to have him calm and sweet so he won't chase Jerry away."

Traci got up from her chair and started to walk towards the bathroom. She stopped and glanced over her shoulder at Andy.

"And me calling Jerry by his first name? It _is _a big deal, so don't you try that…" she glanced quickly at Leo and then mouthed "crap" to Andy, "… on me."

Andy scowled as she disappeared behind the door to the bathroom. Her eyes fell to the candy bar on the table and then to Leo on the couch. With a juvenile grin she grabbed the candy bar and went to sit next to Leo.

"Who's your favorite auntie?" she asked with a grin as she held the candy bar out to Leo. His eyes widened with satisfaction and just when he was about to grab it, Andy snatched her hand back and gave him a scornful look.

"Aaauntie Aaaaandy!"

A satisfied grin broke across Andy's face as she handed him the candy bar. She let out an evil little laugh when Leo ripped off the paper and shoved the entire bar into his mouth.

* * *

.

* * *

The next day, Andy was seated with Sam and Dov at Sam's desk, watching some surveillance tapes when Oliver and Chris came walking in with a suspect. Andy's eyes drifted away from the screen and over to the loud suspect Chris was hauling in with him.

"Now, this guy-" The rest of Sam's words were lost when she suddenly hopped off of her chair and onto her feet to frantically search the bullpen for Traci.

"McNally, am I boring you?" Sam asked as he watched her spin in circles. At first, the irritation in his voice was strong, but soon faded when he noticed her wide eyes and fidgeting hands. "What's wrong?"

Either she didn't hear him or she completely ignored, but quickly, she froze.

"Where's Traci? Find Traci Nash." The suspect yelled from the booking area.

Sam and Dov both got to their feet when Andy jogged past them into booking. Andy went straight up to Chris and the suspect and took a hold of the suspect's cuffed hands behind his back.

"Chris, I got it," she said and butted a surprised and speechless Chris out of her way. Oliver turned to stare at her with eyebrows knitted together. The suspect started to wriggle in Andy's hold and started to shout after Traci again. Andy slammed him up against the wall and leaned in. "Shut up," she said sternly. When Sam came walking into booking, a half amused and half surprised look formed on his face upon seeing Andy holding her own. The suspect turned his head, staring into Andy's eyes.

"You," he started, narrowing his eyes. "You're Andy, right?"

"Wait, you know this guy?" Sam asked, looking between her and Oliver who shrugged his shoulders in ignorance. Andy ignored Sam and stared back into the suspect's eyes instead. She smirked at him unhappily and then glanced over her shoulder, muttering a low-sounding 'crap' when she saw Jerry and Luke walking through the bullpen, and then what she had feared; Traci and Gail following right behind.

"Traci!" the suspect shouted, earning him another firm push against the wall.

"I said, _shut up_," Andy spat out through gritted teeth, watching as Traci's head turn towards the familiar voice. The smile on her face fell and her eyes widened as she stepped away from the others and quickly made her way into booking.

"Dex? What are you doing here?" Traci asked, clearly confused as she stepped closer to him and Andy.

Andy shot her friend an apologetic look, but quickly noticed that Traci was too busy with her own thoughts to see it. Dex attempted to turn to face her, but Andy held him strong in his place up against the wall.

Traci crossed her arms over her chest and turned to face Oliver. "What did you bring him in for?" she asked quietly, fearing the answer she knew was coming.

Oliver blew out a breath before looking up to meet Traci's eyes. "We pulled him over for speeding and found drugs in the car."

Traci snorted and her eyes shifted into a glare when she turned to stare at Dex.

"I swear babe, they're lying," Dex muttered against the wall in front of his face.

With a smirk, Traci grabbed the sheet Oliver was filling out. Her eyes skimmed the sheet quickly and soon, she snorted again. "Well, Dex, it says here that you had drugs in your car," she spat as she waved the sheet where he could see it. "Black on white."

"I wouldn't do that to you and Leo!" Dex pleaded, before letting out a yelp of pain when Andy pressed her elbow between his shoulder blades.

Sam's eyebrows shot up in surprise by Andy's actions, but he couldn't help the grin he felt spread across his lips. He felt a strange sense of pride. Jerry, on the other hand, stood behind him, feeling baffled, while listening to the intense conversation.

"Until you clean your act up, Dex, you won't see Leo," Traci muttered into his ear before she turned on her heel and made her way out of booking. "Book him!" she barked over her shoulder at the last minute. She shuffled her way through the crowd, completely avoiding Jerry's gaze as she strode down the hall in the direction of the locker rooms.

Finally, Andy removed her elbow from his back and pulled him away from the wall, almost causing him to stumble and fall.

"That's assault of a suspect," Dex yelled in Oliver's direction.

"Keep it up and I'll show you assault of a suspect."

Taken aback by Andy's words they all froze, and watched her. Soon, she lifted her eyes and looked at each and every one of the other officers in the room.

"What?" she snapped, the eyes of the other officers quickly scattering away. Chris took Dex off her hands and led him into a cell and Andy made her way out of the room with Sam hot in her heels. But before she could leave the room, Jerry grabbed a hold of her arm to stop her.

"What was that about?" He asked quietly, leaning his head in closer to keep the conversation private.

Her eyebrows drew together as she looked down the hall to where Traci had gone and then back into Jerry's eyes. "It's not my place to tell you," she shrugged, nodding in the direction of the locker rooms. "You should go talk to her."

Jerry sighed and let go of her arm, making his way down the hall. Luke and Gail finally continued back to the D's office while Sam stood by her side, his eyes never leaving hers.

When she turned to face him and met his dark eyes, she narrowed hers once again. "What?"

Sam shook his head and let out a chuckle. "Feisty little firecracker aren't you?" he bumped his shoulder to hers. "Remind me not to piss you off." He teased, giving her a wink.

She kept her narrowed stare at him as she smirked and bumped her shoulder to his too, this time with more force than he had used on her. "Too late. You already have."

* * *

Jerry poked his head inside the locker room, "Trace?" he called. When he didn't hear any reply he stepped further in to the locker rooms, seeing Traci seated on the bench leaned over with her head in her hands. It took him only a second to walk over to her and crouch in front of her.

"Hey," he started softly as he tugged her head up from her hands. She opened her eyes and met his, only for a second before she looked away. "Look at me, Traci."

Eventually, her eyes found his again and she could tell by his intense stare that he was confused. He was searching her eyes for any kind of an answer. She covered the hands that were on her face with hers and gently pulled them down to her lap.

"I'm sorry," she started, but had to take breath before she continued, "I meant to tell you tonight."

This time it was him that had to take a breath as he briefly looked down at their intertwined hands. "Tell me what?"

Traci furrowed her brows by the insecurity in his voice and closed her eyes in sadness when she suddenly realized what he was thinking. When she opened them again he was staring and breathing a little heavy through his nostrils. "Jerry. No. I'm not _with_ him," one of her hands left his as she pressed it to his cheek, thumb rubbing gently. "We just have a child together." She pulled back her hand as he stayed silent, but kept his eyes on hers. "Say something?"

"Leo…" he trailed off as a hint of a smile appeared on his lips. "Traci, why didn't you tell me before?"

"Well," Traci sighed and dropped her head down a little. "I was afraid people would think I wasn't capable of doing this job…. And afraid you would back out-"

He swallowed the rest of her words as he kissed her passionately, his hands circling her neck and pulling her closer to him. They were both a little breathless they pulled away from each other, with matching grins on their faces.

Jerry tipped her chin up to look in her eyes before he spoke. "First of all, you're fully capable of this job with a kid," he told her with a smile. "And second of all… it's going to take a lot more than _a kid_ to scare me away from you, okay?" He smiled when Traci nodded. "Now, anything else you need to tell me, while we're at it?"

Her glowing eyes matched her satisfied grin as her fingers came up to his chin and tugged at his goatee, "this has to go," she said as she nudged his mouth all the way in for another kiss.

* * *

Back in the middle of the bullpen, Sam and Andy started to walk back to his desk. Sam's hand was at the small of her back, and she was sure he could tell that she was trembling as if a whole colony of butterflies had taken up residence in her stomach. They walked back to his desk, with Dov right behind. Unaware that all eyes in the station rested upon them, including Luke's.

She caught his eye when she took her seat, and his eyes narrowed as he watched her. When she shot him a small smile he didn't return it. He just kept looking at her suspiciously till Jerry and Traci came walking back into the office. Andy searched Traci's eyes and when Traci grinned at her she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Swarek," Boyko's voice broke her from her daze. She turned her head and saw Boyko standing outside of his office, staring down at them.

"Yeah?" Sam answered.

"I need you guys out on the streets today," he said at the same time as Luke, Jerry, Gail and Traci emerged from the D's office and walked hurriedly towards the direction of the sally port.

Sam's eyes followed them as he asked; "Okay, what's up?"

"Got a homicide in High Park, I need everyone out on the streets so suit up and get out there. Epstein's with Shaw and McNally's with you."

They got to their feet in a hurry and started to walk towards the locker rooms to change.

"See you by the cruiser in five," Sam called after Andy as she pushed herself through the doors to the locker rooms.

When she emerged from the station, fully dressed in uniform, she stopped in her tracks when she saw him leaned up against the cruiser. It took her a couple of seconds before she started moving again, holding back a bit of a grin. It was the first time she'd seen him in uniform.

"Wow, you look just as good in uniform as you do-" she froze and cut herself off, her eyes widened in shock when she saw his raised eyebrows and teasing grin on his face. She felt a blush creep over her cheeks, and started to shift her weight from one foot to the other in. "I mean…" she trailed off, not even sure how she was going to save herself from the trap she'd walked right into. "I uh, I just haven't seen you in uniform before."

The smile on Sam's face widened. "Just admit it, McNally. You think I look good, nothing wrong with that."

He chuckled when her cheeks turned into a fierce shade of red and her eyes narrowed at him.

"That's _not_ what I meant," she protested, but even to her own ears it sounded weak.

"It's okay McNally, I'm used to it, I hear it _all_ the time," he said and smiled a cocky grin that complimented his dimples.

She shook her head and joined him in his chuckles as she walked closer to him. "That's fresh, Swarek," she murmured as she reached for the keys in his hand.

He snatched his hand away and looked at her curiously with narrowed eyes, "What do you think you're doing?" he asked as she again tried to reach for the keys.

Andy's teeth sunk into her lip. "Um…Driving?"

She watched as his eyebrows headed straight up for his hairline. "Forget it, I don't let rookies drive."

Her mouth fell open, slightly shocked and a little embarrassed, but she shook the feeling off and crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. "Well Shaw let me drive when I was his rookie."

"Yeah? Well I'm not Shaw, so get in." He turned and opened his door to take his seat, standing with one foot inside and one outside as he watched her stomp around the cruiser to the passenger side.

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head when she climbed in. "Fine," she told him, the annoyance evident in her voice.

As they drove on their way to the crime scene she watched his profile, allowing herself to actually admire his looks. She'd already thought he looked attractive back on that first day at the Penny, but now that he'd got himself a haircut, somehow he looked even better. Her eyes followed the line of his jaw down to his chin, continuing down to his Adam's apple. She watched it, mesmerized as it moved up and then down again as he swallowed, mortified that her pulse quickened at the sight.

A cough caused her eyes to fly up to his, meeting him straight in the eye. She tried to cover herself with an innocent smile, but the grin he gave in return told her that she'd been caught. _Again_. She looked out the windshield and realized they were standing still, waiting for a green light. She turned back to look at him again, narrowing her eyes when she realized that stupid grin was still on his face.

"What?" he asked teasingly.

She sucked in a breath, finding some courage to wipe that grin off of him. "Nothing. I mean, I know you've been around for a while. Didn't expect you to drive like a senior citizen though," she retorted and flashed him her teeth, letting out a loud chuckle as his grin fell and his eyes squinted.

He turned his head, revving the engine as he waited impatiently for a green light and when he finally got it he stomped the gas pedal flat, causing both of them to get sucked back into their seats. Andy tipped her chin up as another loud chuckle escaped from her; she turned her head to look at him and winked at him.

"Aw, did I strike a nerve?"

"Anyone ever tell you you talk too much?"

* * *

At the scene in High Park, Jerry and Luke approached the two bodies, with Gail right behind them and Traci walking with hesitance after her. Gail glanced over her shoulder at Traci, eyes squinted and a smirk on her lips.

"What's with the constipated face?" Gail asked smugly.

Traci frowned at her, and then moved her eyes away, closing them and taking in a deep breath when she came to stop in front of the body. She opened her eyes just in time when Luke pulled the cover off, revealing a dead woman in her twenties. Traci wrapped one arm around her torso, the nausea quickly rising to her throat. She glanced quickly over at Gail, and felt a slight relief when she noticed her having a hard time looking at the body.

Traci braced herself, tilted her head down and studied the body. For a second, she swore it reminded her of something, something she'd seen before on a late, boring nightshift when she had to tidy up the D's office.

"Okay, let's get started," Luke announced.

* * *

After Andy and Sam had cleared the scene and Dov and Oliver had taken statements they walked up to the detectives to ask what they could do to help. When they came up to them they heard Gail ask Luke and Jerry to follow a lead she'd found, Luke and Jerry stepped to the side to discuss it between the two of them and when Andy glanced over they didn't seem to agree with each other.

Andy rested her hand on Traci's shoulder; she stiffened at first but relaxed when she met Andy's eyes. "You okay?" Andy asked worriedly.

Traci just nodded, looked down at her notepad, her eyes skimming over her notes and then she worried her lip. "I have a hunch," Traci whispered.

"That's great Trace," Andy said and squeezed her shoulder in encouragement.

"Yeah," Traci sighed. "But it's just a hunch. They'll probably follow Gail's lead."

Sam watched the two girls interact and he overheard the conversation. Andy glanced over at him, eyes searching his and when she got his nod she turned her attention to Traci again.

"What's the hunch? Sam and I will take a look at it."

Traci looked first at Andy with surprised eyes and then over at Sam behind them. Both of them walked back to Sam, Traci handed her notes over to him and explained the file she'd seen at the barn weeks ago. A few minutes later, Sam and Andy headed back to the barn to locate the file and see if there was anything in Traci's hunch. It took them ten minutes to locate the file, but when they finally did there was no doubt in Sam's mind. They rushed back to the scene and walked up to the detectives; Sam reached Andy the file a few feet away from the others.

"Aren't you going to give it to them?" Andy asked as she stared at the file he held out to her.

Sam smiled and shook his head. "This is Nash's hunch, and it's a good one."

Andy narrowed her eyes, bit down on her lip and smiled at him as she took the file from him and started to walk towards Traci. When she reached her she touched her shoulder and stepped back, motioning for Traci to step with her away from the group. She reached her the file and saw the hesitation on Traci's face. "Sam thinks you're right."

Traci's eyes lit up suddenly, flickering over to Sam. She smiled at him quick before she returned her gaze to Andy. "Do you think they'll agree?" Traci asked quietly

Andy smiled back and squeezed Traci's arm. "I know they will."

Andy walked back to Sam, and they both stood watching as Traci walked up to Luke and Jerry, passing the file to them. When Andy saw the grin on Traci's face, she turned her head to face Sam, exchanging a smile.

"Let's go find Epstein and get him prepped for his reward after his success in the last sting operation." Sam said.

* * *

.

* * *

With only three hours left of their shift, the two rookies in undercover training accompanied with Sam and Boyd and Jerry and Traci sat together in the back of the surveillance van. Sam and Boyd were to monitor the operation, while Jerry, Traci and Andy was to observe the operation.

While Boyd made sure the monitors in the surveillance van worked, Sam hooked Dov up with microphones for his first solo sting operation. Jerry was seated between Traci and Andy, holding the file he'd gotten from Boyd open, all six eyes skimming over it. Andy's eyes flickered over to Sam and Dov, feeling both proud and envious of Dov's assignment simultaneously.

"All set, Epstein," Sam said as he gave Dov a nod.

Dov slid over to sit next to Andy, bumping his shoulder slightly to hers. Andy gave him a friendly smile, Dov glanced over at Andy and must've caught the saddened look she had on her face. "Sorry you have to sit this one out," he told her quietly.

Andy shrugged her shoulders. "Me too," she admitted, "but you deserved this one."

Dov returned her smile and shifted in his seat to face Sam and Boyd, they both nodded to Dov, who took a deep breath and got to his feet.

"Alright Epstein, get in there and show us what you got." Boyd said, and opened the door for him to get out.

Dov jumped out of the van, and quickly turned to face his training officer, with uncertainty in his eyes.

Sam gave him an encouraging nod. "You'll be fine, Epstein."

They all watched as Dov started to walk towards the club, not glancing back once, with his hands down into his front pockets.

* * *

_They watched intensely at the monitor as Dov failed his assignment; Sam grimaced while Boyd pinched the bridge of his nose. Jerry rested his elbows on his knees, biting the inside of his cheek while the girls looked with worried stares at the monitor. _

"_Guys, maybe you should pull him out," Jerry suggested._

_Sam and Boyd looked at each other, silently agreeing that they would take Jerry's suggestion. Sam got to his feet and moved towards the door._

"_Wait," Andy said in a whisper, and when Sam looked questioningly at her she strengthened her voice, "wait." _

_She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing, knowing that all eyes were on her. She heard Sam let out a breath, and she could feel the intensity of his gaze on her. When she finally opened them, she looked directly into his eyes. _

"_Put me in," she said, hoping that her voice sounded as confident as it did in her head. _

_Everyone, expect from Boyd, stared at her in disbelief. Eventually Sam shook his head at her._

"_No." _

"_Why not?" She fired back as soon as his answer had left his lips. _

_Sam arched his eyebrows, chuckling in a way that indicated that he didn't find her amusing. He turned to look at the monitor, realizing that Dov still hadn't gotten himself in too deep of shit. She could tell he was thinking about it; probably listing up pros and cons in his mind. But Andy's patience was wearing thin. So she set her jaw and moved her gaze to Boyd, who was staring at her with admiration._

"_Put me in." She told him._

_Sam gaped at her, then moved his eyes to see a smiling Boyd, mouth falling open further. _

"_Okay," Boyd agreed, watching as Andy failed to suppress a wide smile. He looked over at the monitor and then back at Andy. "We don't have time to hook you up with a mic, so stay as close to Epstein as possible." _

_Andy nodded and slid alongside the bench in the van, sitting in front of Sam as he opened the door for her, watching as he moisturized his lips before he was about to speak._

"_I know," she said with a wry smile._

_Sam's brow's furrowed in surprise and she could tell he was taken aback by how easily she read what he was thinking. Before he could stumble on his words, she was out the door and on her way into the club. He closed the door quickly and took the seat on the bench that Andy'd occupied earlier. He met Traci's narrowed eyes and noticed the secret smile on her lips. Sam chose to ignore her and looked away, only to meet Jerry's suspicious eyes. Instead, Sam let his gaze drop down to his folded hands, waiting while she would appear in their sight. _

_Boyd coughed to clear his throat. "I got her in sight." _

_Sam's eyes shot up to the monitor, watching Andy stride over to Dov, who was still seated in deep conversation with the guys. _

"There you are, babe," she said as she sat next to him, pressing a chaste kiss on his cheek.

When she pulled back, watching the relieved and surprised expression on Dov's face, she grabbed his hand and gave it a light squeeze. She turned her gaze to the men around the table, offering them her widest smile.

"Who's she?" Lavid asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Dov was about to reply when Andy reached her hand over the table, Lavid looked down at her hand before he took it in his.

"I'm Traci, Stefan's girlfriend." Andy faked a blush as Lavid bent his head down and pressed his lips on her hand. When he finally looked up he grinned at her and slowly let go of her hand.

"Pleasure to meet you," he started and then moved his gaze to Dov, "I hope you know how lucky you are."

Dov nodded with a smile, draped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her close to his side. Andy was thankful for her hair covering her widening eyes as Dov's lips came closer to her, and before she could figure out how to react he crushed his lips against hers.

She framed his face with her palms, trying as discrete as possible to control Dov's over eager kisses, but Dov forced his tongue between her lips, demanding access so he could deepen the kiss. With the audience, Andy had no other choice then to play along and let Dov suck the life out of her. But when he actually did start to suck on her tongue she pinched him behind his ear to get him to pull back.

"_What the hell does he think he's doing?" Sam asked as he stared in disbelief at the monitor. _

_Traci let out a laugh, "I know it's wrong, but I am so enjoying this." _

_When Sam shot her an agitated look she pursed her lips and stared down at her hands, doing her best to not laugh at the scene on the monitor and muttered "she's using my name" as low as she could._

"We'll continue when we get home, babe," Andy said with a wink when Dov finally detached himself from her lips.

They both faced their audience, Andy smiling coyly to Lavid, who was eyeing them while his arms were crossed over his chest.

His eyes focused on Dov again. "You don't look like a kid that uses."

Andy could tell Dov was getting nervous again, limbs acting restless, so she placed her hand on his knee to steady him out. She shot him a quick smile before she turned her attention to Lavid.

"Stefan isn't really much of a user; he's just trying to hook me up, I like to do coke when I party."

Lavid smiled to Andy, his eyes creeping over every inch of her, causing Andy to clutch her hand around Dov's thigh. She gave Lavid her most seductive smile and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Stick to drinks tonight, come back tomorrow and I'll personally have it ready for you."

Andy wasn't sure if she was happy or annoyed by it...In one way, they would get to do another undercover night but on the other end it meant playing Dov's girlfriend for one more night. She simply nodded her head in agreement. "Thank you, I'm looking forward to it."

* * *

Andy and Dov walked hand in hand out of the bar, headed down the street in the direction where the surveillance van had been moved. As soon as they had rounded the corner and saw the van parked in an alley, Andy glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was following them. When she didn't see anyone, she removed her hand from Dov's.

"What the hell was that back there?" She asked as they stepped closer to the van.

Sam and Boyd stood leaning their backs to the van while Traci and Jerry sat in the door opening. Sam's fingers were clutched around a water bottle, his grip so tight that his knuckles had turned white. When they were finally just inches away from them Andy grabbed the bottle from Sam, causing him to raise his eyebrows in surprise. She took a large sip and swooshed it around in her mouth before she spit the liquid out.

"Gross." She whined as she dried her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket. She glared over at Dov who was laughing at her. "Seriously, was it necessary to try and suck the life out of me?" She spat a couple more times to prove her point, "Gross!"

"I'm sorry, but I had to make it convincible!" Dov argued.

"Do that again and I will punch you in the junk!" Andy barked at him.

She sent a glare over her shoulder when she heard loud chuckles, narrowed eyes landing at Traci and Jerry. Traci was fast to raise her hands in innocence and point her finger accusingly at Jerry. When she moved her eyes to Sam she noticed his jaw clenched and eyes narrowed at Dov.

"Epstein," he bit out, "that stunt you pulled in there? Don't ever to that again without clarifying it with your partner beforehand."

Andy looked over at Dov who had a mortified look splayed across his face, and then she stepped closer to Sam and cleared her throat, putting her hand out in front of her to try to calm him down. "It's fine Sam, I'm just being over dramatic."

Sam refused to meet her eyes, his still narrowed at a clearly ashamed Dov. His eyes finally focused on her when she stepped directly in front of him "McNally, if you hadn't reacted the way you did," he started and then gave Dov a hard stare before he returned his stare to her, "both of you could have been made, and you could've been in deep shit."

Before Andy could defend her and Dov, Sam made his way around her and walked down the alley. She stared after him before she turned and gave Boyd a confused look, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"He _is_ right." Boyd said.

She rolled her eyes and started walking after Sam, but quickly glanced over at Dov who looked like he was about to throw up. "I'm so sorry Dov; I didn't mean to get us in trouble over it," she told him honestly.

Andy continued down the alley in search of Sam. When she reached the curb and was about to turn left she gasped when someone circled her wrist and tugged her to the right. Her eyes met his, his back leaned up against the brick wall, one foot propped up against it and a tired look on his face.

He let go of her wrist and dropped his gaze down to the ground, pocketing his hands as he waited for her to say something. When she didn't, he lifted his eyes and stared into hers. "I may have over reacted…" he trailed off, his lips quirking up slightly.

"_May_ have?"

Sam swallowed and raised his vision of sight to the open sky. He smiled that grin that wasn't quite a smile, but looked like one.

Andy sighed. "Look, we're still learning, sometimes we make mistakes and sometimes we succeed," she told him.

She watched as he nodded and then let his head fall down in a normal angle, meeting her eyes again. He licked his lips before he spoke. "You did good tonight, you're good at improvising."

She flashed him her teeth, a strange sense of relief running through her. "Thank you."

He returned her smile and pushed himself off the wall, tilted his head back to the alley where the others were. "Let's get back."

She nodded and walked next to him down the alley. "I think you should apologize to Dov, he didn't do anything wrong." She smiled when he nodded in agreement.

When they reached the van she got in with Traci, Boyd and Jerry, leaving Sam with Dov outside.

"Epstein-" Sam started.

Dov cut him off. "Sir, I'm really sorry-"

They both started to speak at the same time; Sam lifted his hand to stop Dov from continuing. "You did everything right tonight, Epstein," he began and cleared his throat before he continued, "both of you."

Dov's lips curled up into a surprised smile and he reached his hand out to Sam, who looked confused. "Thank you sir."

Sam rolled his eyes and gave Dov a pat on the back of his shoulder, causing Dov to cough out a breath. "Stop with the sir crap. Call me Sam, or Swarek. Anything _but_ sir."

* * *

.

* * *

Freshly showered from her shift, Andy walked, with a bounce in her step, through the doors to the Penny. Like a magnet, her eyes drifted to the TO's table and met those dark eyes she constantly felt herself staring into. She smiled and lifted her hand, about to give him a wave, but decided against it when her hand was already half in the air. Sam smiled at her, amused, but lifted his beer in acknowledgement anyway.

She rolled up on her tip toes and skimmed the bar in search of her friends. Her already there smile grew wider at the sight of Dov and Chris shooting darts. Her feet led her over to them, making her way through the crowded bar. "Hey," she said as she came to stand next to them. A laugh came across her lips as she watched Chris in deep concentration, with the arrow pointed at the round plate at the wall.

Dov grinned at her and bumped his shoulder into hers. "Where's the celebration of the night?" he asked as he turned his head to look at their regular table, which was currently not occupied by anyone.

"Traci was tired," Andy said as she started to fidget with the hem of her shirt, in fear of getting caught in telling a white lie, "it takes its toll on you to rock an investigation and be on surveillance of a kick ass undercover sting you know." Andy winked at Dov when he nodded in agreement.

A curse came from Chris as he missed the spot he was aiming for at the plate; he turned and flashed Andy a smile.

"We can still celebrate yours and hers triumph though," Chris said and tipped his head in the direction of their table before he started the walk over to it. Andy and Dov followed right behind. A hand rising in the air to signal the bartender by the bar caught Andy's attention. Her brow furrowed by the sight of her blonde fellow rookie and frenemy seated alone by the bar.

Chris followed Andy's gaze, "We've already tried," he said and got a nod from Andy.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna-" her hand pointed in the direction of the bar, and she turned to walk where her hand had pointed. Gail looked at her with obvious annoyance in her eyes when Andy took the empty stool next to hers.

"Hey, sorry about today-" Andy started, but got cut off by a snort from Gail.

"No you're not," she said as she glared at her, "you're ecstatic that Traci nailed it and I failed."

Andy bit the inside of her cheek and braced herself for her next step. "You're right," she said and noticed Gail rolling her eyes at her, "I'm happy for Trace, but it doesn't automatically mean that I'm happy about your failure."

None of them said anything for a few seconds, so Andy got to her feet and was about to walk back to the guys.

"I wish I had a drunk for a father," Andy closed her eyes at the hurtful and embarrassing words, "That way they would never be disappointed when you don't live up to the expectations. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to have everyone expect you to live up to your name? Including your parents?"

"Yeah, it's probably just as exhausting to clear the reputation of one like mine."

Her eyes opened just in time to see the winced expression on Gail's face. "I'm sorry that was," Gail started as her eyes fell to the floor, "A low blow."

Andy retrieved her seat and rested her elbows on the bar. "Yeah, it was," Gail's eyes came up to Andy's, widened in shock, "but it's you..." Andy's hands came up between them and gestured at Gail, "Ice queen."

The shocked expression on Gail's face was replaced with an amused smirk.

"Oh whatever," she replied with a laugh and a roll of her eyes.

"Your parents are not the only one with expectations," Andy said with a wink.

Both girl fell silent, both waiting for the other to speak. After a minute a heavy breath escaped from Gail. "Do you have any idea how it is to carry my name?" she started and threaded her fingers though her hair in frustration, "So many expectations come with it; make a good detective and then wear a white shirt proudly," She mocked in a deep voice. A frown formed on her face at the words 'white shirts'.

It didn't go unnoticed by Andy. "Is that really what you want?" she asked and watched as Gail's shoulders shrugged.

"Doesn't matter what I want," Gail said as her eyes avoided Andy's again, "Not like my white shirts of parents would like the idea of me just being on patrol forever."

Andy suddenly felt sorry for being oblivious to how life actually was for Gail. "You would make a great patrol officer," Andy said with a sincere smile.

Gail snorted a chuckle. "That I know."

Andy fell in sync with Gail's laughter.

"Tell anyone we had this conversation," Gail said when her chuckles settled down, "And you'll be the first one I fire when I become a white shirt."

Andy's head fell back in laughter, while Gail looked at her with a sincere and joyful smile on her ruby red lips. When the laughter settled down Andy placed one palm on Gail's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

"Look-"

"Ugh, can we not do this?" Gail cut her off, laughing a little again, "Let's… let's get drunk instead."

Andy removed her hand and nodded, before she narrowed her eyes at Gail. "If you expect me to get drunk with _you_, you're buying."

"_See_, much more comfortable." Gail smiled another sincere smile and motioned with her hand for Liam to take their orders.

A half an hour later, both the girls were feeling the tequila they had shot down, one followed by the other.

Gail squinted her eyes at Andy, glanced over her shoulder at Sam and then back at Andy. "What's going on between you and Swarek?"

Andy froze, staring down at her hands, when she looked to her side to meet Gail's eyes she caught a glimpse of Sam behind her head. When he gave her his signature smile, dimples in full sight, she blushed and unfortunately for Andy, her blush didn't go unnoticed by Gail. She raised her eyebrows at Andy, waiting expectantly for her to say something.

"What's up with you and Dov?" Andy questioned, smiling when Gail's eyes widened in shock.

"Point taken," Gail replied as she pursed her lips and nodded.

Andy turned to look at the door opening, and swallowed when Luke stepped inside, smiling when he saw her. She turned to look at Gail who also had noticed Luke coming their way.

"Listen… I-," Andy started.

"Don't worry about it; I'm too drunk to remember anything tomorrow anyway," Gail cut her off.

The two girls exchanged smiles before Andy got to her feet; she gave Gail a light pat on her shoulder before she started her path to meet Luke halfway. When they reached each other, Luke circled her waist with his arm and pulled her close to him, her cheek nestled against his chest she caught Sam's eye from his seat. She felt Luke's lips on the top of her head and noticed that Sam looked away and pulled up his phone from his pocket. She saw the smirk and amusement in his eyes when he looked at the display before he put the phone to his ear and saw his lips move a 'hey'.

Luke led her towards the exit and just when they were on their way through the doors, she threw one last look back at Sam, who was watching them again, standing this time and slipping into his leather jacket. She smiled what felt like an awkward smile right before the door closed behind them.

* * *

.

* * *

The night after, Andy and Dov were ready for their second night undercover and as a couple. They both rolled their weight from heel to toes and back again, eagerly and impatiently waiting for Sam and Boyd to give them a go to walk inside the club and do the buy.

"Okay you two," Sam said as he looked at them, "ready to do this?"

Both rookies grinned widely and nodded their heads in sync.

"Okay, McNally's doing the buy, Epstein you back her up and if you notice _anything_ out of the ordinary, get out. You hear me?"

Again the two rookies nodded, wide grins quickly replaced with serious looks. Sam pulled the sliding door of the van open and let them step out; Andy glanced over her shoulder at him and gave him a shy smile.

"She got potential," Boyd said from his place at the bench, laptop in his lap watching the surveillance cameras that were inside the club.

Sam stepped back to take a seat next to him and nodded his agreement with Boyd.

* * *

Half an hour later, Boyd was seated in the passenger seat while Sam was in the driver's seat, watching when Andy and Dov came into their sight. Hand in hand, the two of them came walking out of the club with a bounce in their step, adrenaline still pumping through their veins.

"We totally rocked that!" Andy said with a satisfied grin as she swayed their hands back and forth between them.

"Yeah, rock 'n roll, McNally," Dov looked at her, first with a smile before a worried look took over his features. "So you won't punch me in the junk?"

Andy tilted her chin up and laughed; when her head fell back to its normal place she shook her head.

"No, but if you had tried to suffocate me with your tongue I would have."

She bumped her hip to his, telling him that she was just kidding with him, and soon, a smile spread across Dov's lips again. He looked over at her when he felt her hand tighten around his, lips drawn in a tight line and wide eyes.

"Andy, what's wrong?" Dov asked her, but didn't get any respond from her.

Sam eyed them thoroughly, noticing how Andy all of a sudden stiffened and how her eyes widened with fear. He tried to search through the crowd to see what she was seeing, but there were too many people around them.

"Sam Sam Sam," she repeated his name, voice trembling.

"What is it McNally?" Sam asked into the radio, eyes still on her as she and Dov stood still in the middle of the crowd.

"Sammy," Boyd said and pointed to who Andy was seeing.

Sam and Boyd hurried out of the van, both running towards the rookies, Sam with the radio in his hand and Boyd with his gun drawn. Sam felt his heart throbbing in his ears when he heard what he knew was coming. One quick, loud shot fired, immediately after followed two shots from Boyd's gun.

Sam lifted the radio to his lips, as he ran towards them and shouted frantically into it.

"This is Swarek. I need a bus at XS Nightclub, 261 Richmond Street West. Officer down!"

* * *

_._

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Would love to hear what you think of it, so don't be shy to leave a review :)_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hi guys! I know I'm taking my sweet time between updates, but I really just want it to be perfect before I post it. Once again I hope the length of it makes up for the endless wait :) Thanks to each and every one of you for all the alerts, favorites and reviews! It's really motivating and makes my day.**

**A special thanks to deedee920 and rookiebluefan89 for all their help and encouragement. I really appreciate it. :)**

* * *

"This is Swarek. I need a bus at XS Nightclub, 261 Richmond Street, West. Officer down!"

Sam ran as fast as his feet would let him towards the two rookies on the ground, dropping down to his knees when he reached them. Andy's hands were pressing down on the wound on Dov's lower abdomen, causing Dov to wince in pain. Sam grabbed Dov's chin and forced him to look at him. "Epstein, you're going to be all right. Just hang tight, okay? Ambulance is on the way." Sam looked over at Andy, meeting her panicked eyes. "McNally, _do not_ release that pressure, do you understand?"

Andy nodded sharply, desperately trying to control her breathing so that she could focus on the task at hand. But when Sam got to his feet she started panicking again, he noticed right away. "I'll be right back; I'm just going to clear away some people. Keep putting pressure to that wound." He waited to walk away until he got another nod from her. Sam started to clear the area from nosy people, holding his badge up in the air for everyone to see. "Okay people, step back and give us some room."

Andy looked down at Dov's face, noticing that he was starting to pass out. "Dov, you have to stay awake." She said, almost releasing one hand from his stomach to shake his chin. "Sam! Sam, I'm losing him!" She called out, panic evident in her voice.

Sam turned and ran back to them, kneeling down next to Dov. "Epstein, come on, stay with me." He said, patting Dov's cheek. Dov's eyelids fluttered but fell shut again. "No, come on Dov. Stay with me." Sam said, his voice revealing panic and fear. Sam looked out at the street. "Where the hell is that Ambulance?" he muttered. The he noticed that Andy's hands were tired and shaking, so he covered them with his own hands and applied more pressure.

"Sam…" Andy trailed off, looking over at him.

Sam met her eyes, shaking his head. "He's going to be okay, McNally." He noticed Andy's lower lip tremble and her eyes filling up with tears. "Andy, I need you to stay focused." Not trusting her voice, Andy gave him a nod. Finally, after a few seconds, when they heard the sirens of the ambulance, they both let out a relieved breath and before they knew it, they were surrounded by paramedics.

"I need you two to step away so we can work on him," one of the paramedics said. Sam and Andy immediately obeyed and stepped aside, watching as they put Dov on a stretcher and ushered him into the ambulance.

Sam turned to look over at Boyd, who was watching the other paramedics working on the shooter. He met Sam's eyes and shook his head; Sam nodded and turned to Andy. "Let's get to the hospital." Now that Dov was on his way to the hospital, Andy could process what just happened; she stood frozen in her place, her eyes glazed over. Sam started to jog towards the van, he looked over his shoulder and shouted out to her, "Come on!"

* * *

Sam and Andy reached the hospital just in time to see the paramedics rush the stretcher with Dov on it into an operating room. Standing in the hallway outside of the entrance to the operating rooms, Sam glanced over and noticed the completely lost stare in Andy's eyes. He looked down at his bloody hands, and moved his gaze over to hers, noticing that hers were equally as covered as his.

"Sam?" He turned his head in the direction of the familiar voice, meeting Monica's curious stare behind them. Sam briefly looked over at Andy, noting that her eyes were still glued to the swinging doors to the operating rooms before he turned his body to face Monica. Her eyes drifted down to his hands before she looked into his eyes. "Are you on duty?" she asked and flickered her eyes over to Andy, only to see the back of her head.

"Yeah…" Sam answered, frowning when he looked down at his hands again. "Is there a place where we can wash up?"

"Yeah, of course," Monica said and motioned for them to follow her down the hall.

Sam stepped in front of Andy, bending his knees slightly to meet her eyes and blocking the view her eyes had been locked to since they arrived. "Andy," he started in a soft voice, as if he was afraid he'd scare her. "Come on, let's go get cleaned up."

When she didn't give any indication that she was going to move, Sam reached forward to touch her shoulders, but decided against it when he saw his blood covered hands again. Instead he took one of her hands in his, turning her and leading her down the hall, following Monica. For the first time since they met again at the Penny, Andy was completely oblivious to Sam's touch and lost in her own thoughts. When Monica reached a door in the middle of the hallway, she stopped and opened it for them, watching the both of them step inside the room.

Once inside, Sam turned to face Monica. "Could you…," he started and shot a glance over his shoulder, seeing Andy still standing numb in her place before he looked back at Monica. "Give us a minute? And maybe tell the receptionist where we are, so Detective Boyd will know when he gets off the phone?"

"Sure." Monica said, offering a friendly smile. Sam nodded and closed the door when she started to walk down the hall.

Slowly, Sam approached Andy from behind, taking her hand again and leading her over to the sink. "C'mon, McNally." Still, Andy didn't say anything, just let herself be led to the sink and stood still in front of it.

Sam furrowed his brows, watching her, knowing that he needed to get through to her somehow. He set the water on, making sure the temperature and pressure was right before he took both of her hands in his and led them under the stream of water. Looking up at her face, he saw the first emotion on it since they stepped aside to let the paramedics take over rescuing Dov's life back at the club. Her eyebrows were drawn together, an angry line appearing in the middle of them, as she watched the red water disappearing down the sink.

After he'd dried off her hands, he quickly washed his own hands clean before he dried them off as well. Andy still hadn't said a word, so he took a hold of her shoulders and turned her to face him. When her eyes refused to meet his, he placed his knuckles under her chin and tilted it up, noticing that she had blood stains on her face. He took some paper with a little water on it, and started to clean the stains away; when he was certain all the stains were gone his fingers lingered on her face, his thumb rubbed gently on her cheekbone. Andy's eyes fell closed, and she took a deep breath before she opened her mouth to speak, but whatever she was about to say got caught in her throat when the door opened. Andy's eyes opened, her gaze moved to the door, Sam's eyes followed hers and stared right into Monica's narrowed ones.

"Sorry," Monica started and then opened the door a little more, letting Boyd take place next to her. Her narrowed eyes moved from his eyes to his hands, still lingering on Andy's face. When Sam noticed what Monica was staring at with one eyebrow arched in surprise, he removed his hands from Andy's face before he cleared his throat.

"How's Epstein?" he asked, looking directly at Boyd.

"He's still in surgery," Boyd said before he moved his gaze to Andy. "You okay?"

Andy nodded hurriedly, making a sound that indicated a yes. She looked into Sam's eyes before she dropped her gaze, staring down at her shirt, knitting her brows together at the red stain of blood on her white top. Sam noticed right away and before he even knew himself what he was doing, he pulled the t-shirt he was wearing over his thermal over his head and handed it over to her. "Put this on," he instructed softly. She slipped the shirt on before she raised her eyes to his and tried on a smile.

Sam placed his palm on her back, turning her before he led them out of the room. They walked together with Boyd and Monica to a waiting room. "When there's more information about your coworker's condition, someone will come out and talk to you," she said, looking between Boyd and Sam. The two men gave Monica a nod before they sat down on the chairs to wait, Sam tugged at Andy's arm until she, too, was seated in one of the chairs. Monica bit her lip, trying to get eye contact with Sam before she turned and got back to her tasks.

Boyd grabbed his phone from his pocket, telling Sam he was going to take a call before he got up from the chair and started to pace in the hallway while he was on the phone. Sam nudged his knee into Andy's to get her attention. "Hey. You all right?" he asked, looking over at her.

Andy nodded her head and flashed him a smile. "Mhmm. Yeah." Sam narrowed his eyes, studying her, noticing that she was biting down on her lip and fingers tapping restlessly on her knee. Sam covered her hand with his, giving it a light squeeze.

"He's going to be okay."

"You don't know that," she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. Sam's thumb started a rubbing pattern on her hand, an attempt at soothing her. Sam was about to say something when Boyd cleared his throat.

He looked between the two of them before he looked pointedly on Andy. "Callaghan is on his way."

Andy blew out a breath. "Oh. Okay." She looked longingly at Sam when he removed his hand and smiled softly at her.

Boyd took his seat again, and looked over at Sam. "Boyko and Frank are coming too." Sam nodded and rested his head against the back of his chair.

It didn't take long for Luke to arrive, walking into the waiting room. They all looked up at him, Sam and Boyd nodded their acknowledgements and Andy stayed unmoving and silent. Luke reached his hand out for her to take; Andy looked curiously at it before she looked up into his eyes. "Let's get you home, it's late and you need to rest."

Andy shook her head. "No, I'm staying."

Luke rubbed the back of his neck and got down in a crouch so he was at her eyelevel. "Andy… It won't make a difference if you wait here or at home. Let me take you home and you can take a shower, eat some food, and sleep a little."

Andy started to protest, but Sam coughed and looked at her. "Go home, McNally. I'll call you when we get any information." Luke looked surprised, but nodded his thanks to Sam. Andy reluctantly got to her feet, Luke's arm around her shoulders to lead her out of the hospital.

She glanced over her shoulder at Sam before they walked out of the room. "Promise to call?"

Sam nodded. "Promise. Go, get some rest, McNally." He lifted his hand in a wave before he sagged down into his chair, drawing his hand tiredly over his face.

"Well, that certainly didn't go as we planned it." Boyd said, mirroring Sam's posture in his chair. "His name was Barry Munoz, he's a local buyer down at Regent Park. He had some prescriptions on him, for bipolar disease. Probably not the wisest thing to mix with coke," Boyd said, letting out a breath. "Looks like it was just a coincidence that he was there and recognized McNally."

Sam sucked in a breath before he let out a long sigh. "I guess. Still kinda odd that he would recognize her." When Boyd looked questioningly at him, he continued. "She looked remarkably different tonight than the first time he saw her."

Boyd sat up in his chair. "Still, if he was bipolar, a girl just similar to McNally could have triggered him. And would you've been able to forget her looks if it was you, that first time they met?"

Sam snorted, smirking a little. "Probably not." Sam let out a frustrated breath. "If she could've just keep her nose to herself, this wouldn't have happened in the first place."

"We don't know that. The guy had a mental disease, he still could have done it even if she hadn't interrupted his plans on most likely raping that girl," he looked knowingly at Sam before he continued. "The guy was a lunatic. It's no other than his fault."

Sam nodded, while letting out another breath. "_I know."_

Silence filled the room; the both of them let their thoughts drift away as they waited. It wasn't until Frank and Boyko arrived that they sat up in their chairs and filled them in on the situation. "All right Swarek, I need you to go with me down to the station and give your statement," Boyko said, standing in front of him with his hands in his pocket.

"My statement can wait. I'm staying until I get some information on how he's doing." Sam replied and sat back in his chair, meeting Boyko's eyes.

Boyd got to his feet, looking down at Sam. "I'll go." When Boyko looked surprised at Boyd he clarified. "You need my statement too, right?" Boyko nodded his agreement. "Then I'll give mine tonight and Sammy can give his tomorrow. Someone should stay here anyway."

Boyko looked over at Frank who shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see why there should be any problems with that. Sammy, give us a call when you hear anything, okay?" Frank said, looking between the other men.

"Thanks. I'll call," Sam answered. Frank and Boyko left with Boyd, leaving Sam with his thoughts in the waiting room. Feeling tired, Sam sagged down in a comfortable position, arms crossed over his chest and eyes drifting closed.

It wasn't until someone gently shook his shoulder that he bolted up from his chair. "What?" He asked nervously, meeting Monica's eyes. She reached out to touch his arm gently. "Relax, he's out of surgery-" Sam opened his mouth to throw questions at her, but she held a hand up to stop him. "The surgery went well; they got the bullet without damaging any of his organs. However, he does have a cracked rib and he lost a lot of blood, so they had to give him a blood transfusion." Sam let out a relieved breath, his head falling down a little. "Anyway, I'm off shift and on my way home…" Monica trailed off, biting her lip nervously as she looked at him.

Sam met her eyes, blinking a little before rubbed his hand over his face. "Oh. Yeah, I'll probably stay here a little longer, thought I'd sit with him for a while. If that's okay?"

Monica nodded with a sad look on her face. "Actually, I think we should stop seeing each other…"

Sam's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oookay…?"

Monica swallowed heavily, and her hands trembled a little. "I don't think it's going to work." She took a breath and closed her eyes for a second before she continued. "I don't think _we're _going to work."

Not picking up on what she was saying, Sam smirked at her. "We worked pretty well last night."

Monica snorted, feeling anger replacing the sad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Yeah, I didn't exactly know about _Andy _last night, Sam."

"What are you talking about? And why are you saying her name like that?" Sam asked, starting to feel annoyed.

"Why do you care how I say her name?" Monica spat back, looking around them to make sure no one else was in ear shot.

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a breath. "I _don't," _he said, removing his hand from his face, crossing both arms protectively over his chest. "What I do care about is why you're bringing this up. There's nothing going on between McNally and me, if that's what you think. She's my rookie."

Monica rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah thanks, but I'm not blind, Sam. The way you looked at her and the way you caressed her tells me she's a lot more than _just your rookie." _

"Look, her friend is in the ICU. If things played out differently tonight, that could have been her. I'm just making sure she's okay. It's _my job_ to make sure she's okay." Sam defended, narrowing his eyes at Monica's rolling ones.

"You could hardly take your eyes off of her the whole time she was here, Sam! You're full of shit and you know it," she hissed, blinking away the tears she felt in her eyes.

Sam stayed silent for a minute, wanting to ignore the subject at hand and get to the case. "You said you wanted no strings, Monica…"

With a sad smile on her lips she looked at him. "You think I waited ten months for you to continue the no strings relationship?" Sam closed his eyes as realization dawned on him. "I want you to look at me like you look at her. To touch me the way you touched her. I want you, Sam."

Sam reached his hand out to touch her, but she pulled away. "Monica… I'm sorry, I really am. I thought you knew I didn't want a relationship."

"I did," she said quietly before she shrugged her shoulders. "But I hoped you'd change your mind, that you eventually would want me as much as I want you. Can't blame a girl for hoping, right?" Quickly, she wiped away the tears that had slipped down her cheeks and smiled. "She's a lucky girl. You're a really great guy, Sam." When he shook his head in protest, with a guilty look in his eyes, Monica stepped forward, framing one side of his face with her hand. "You really are, Sam." She leaned in, and pressed her lips to his one last time. She knew she shouldn't have, knew it would only break her heart even more when his lips wouldn't respond to hers. Tears were trailing down her cheeks again when she pulled back, staring into his dark eyes.

Sam reached forward with his hand, wiping her tears away with his thumb. "I'm sorry, Monica," he said sincerely.

She stepped away from him, walking backwards and keeping her eyes on him. "So am I." She took a steady breath before she continued. "You're free to go sit with him; he should wake up in a while from the sedative." She nodded to him before she smiled sadly. "Take good care of yourself, Sam."

"You too," Sam replied, watching her turn around and walk down the hall. He kept watching her until he couldn't see her any longer before he rubbed a hand over his face and swallowed heavily. He turned and walked down the hall to Dov's room, taking a deep breath before he stepped inside the room. He took a seat in the chair next to the bed, sagging down into a comfortable position and propped his feet up against the bed. He looked at Dov, noting that he looked even paler than he usually did. Sam sighed and closed his eyes, letting his mind drift to Monica. During their talk he couldn't understand what she was getting at, but the more he thought about it, he realized that she was right. Andy was more than just his rookie. He cared for her. Of course, Sam cared for all his rookies, but never like this.

* * *

Luke led her with a hand on her shoulder into his apartment; he carried her duffel bag with a fresh set of clothes that they had stopped to pick up from her place. Feeling numb, Andy stood still in the middle of Luke's living room, she flinched when Luke's arms circled her waist and his lips pressed down on the top of her head. "Let's get you in the shower," he said, and grabbed her hand before he led her with him to the bathroom.

Once inside the bathroom, Luke turned the shower on so the water would be nice and warm for her when she was ready to step inside. He helped her take off her clothes before he tilted her chin up and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Take your time. I'll make you some food while you're showering." Andy wrapped her arms around her naked form, suddenly she felt very exposed and vulnerable. Luke smiled to her before he left the room. With a sigh she stepped inside the shower, and stood numb under the hot water. It wasn't until the water started to go cold against her skin twenty minutes later that she stepped out and dried herself off. She pulled on the fresh set of clothes and walked out of the room.

Walking down the hall to the kitchen she heard Luke's voice, when she rounded the corner she found him hunched over the kitchen bench as he wrote something down on a piece of paper. "Yeah, yeah I'll be there," he said before he hung up the phone. When he noticed Andy leaned up against the wall he grimaced. "They found another body, over at 35 division. Similar to the homicide in the park yesterday." He watched her as she took in the information before he spoke again. "I have to go in and help out."

Andy closed her eyes, and inhaled a deep breath before she opened them again. "Okay." She worried her lip, and stared directly at him. "I'm just gonna head home…"

"No, you don't need to do that. You can stay here." Luke protested as he walked up to her and framed her face in his hands. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a soft kiss. Andy tilted her head, and opened her mouth to deepen the kiss, but Luke pulled away.

"I think I'll just head home. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" she asked as she zipped up her hoodie.

Luke sighed before he nodded. "Let me drive you."

She shook her head. "No, you're in a hurry, and I would really like to walk. Clear my head, you know."

He lifted his briefcase from the floor and stared at her. "Andy, it's late. I don't want you to walk around alone late at night."

Andy rolled her eyes. "I'm a cop, Luke. I can take care of myself if I need to."

"Fine. But be careful, all right?" He said and planted a kiss at the top of her head. He circled her shoulders with his arm and walked them out of his apartment. Luke kissed her one last time before he got in his car and drove away. Andy started to walk down the street, letting her mind wander to the events of the night. Her chest felt tight when she thought of Dov's lifeless body on the ground and his blood on her hands. She sped up her pace, hoping she would feel something else, hoping her heartache wouldn't keep up with her. Seconds later, Andy took off running down the street as if someone was chasing her. _Something _chasing her.

* * *

"Swarek…?" Dov said hoarsely, pulling Sam out of his sleep.

Sam sat up in his chair, blinking his eyes at Dov. "Hey. How are you feeling?" He checked his watch before he pressed the beeper for a nurse to come.

Dov winced when he tried to shift to a more comfortable position. "Like I was shot, I guess." He breathed out and then looked at Sam, with his head tilted to one side. "Why are you here?"

"I, um. Thought I'd stay 'til you woke up I guess." He told him, shrugging his shoulders and smiling a little. A nurse with shockingly red hair and scrubs with flowers on them came into the room, with a wide smile on her lips as she saw Dov was awake.

"Ah, good to see you're awake. How are you feeling?" she asked, stepping up and feeling his forehead before she checked the IV in his hand. "Feeling any pain?" she asked again before Dov could reply to her first question.

"Well, yeah," Dov said before he looked over at Sam. "No, I mean. It's not too bad. I can take it."

The nurse arched her eyebrows as she looked between him and Sam. "I think we'll get you some pain killers just in case," she said and winked at them both. "It's very late, so you should try to get some more sleep. Same goes for you, officer." She said, smiling softly at them both as she stepped out of the room.

Sam stretched his arms over his head, yawning loudly. "You need anything before I go?" Sam asked, getting up to his feet.

"How's Andy," he asked carefully, looking down at his folded hands.

Sam smiled at him. "She's a little shaken up, but she's okay. She was here earlier, but we sent her home to relax. She'll be happy to know that you're awake and okay," Sam told him.

Dov nodded, swallowing before he looked up at Sam. "I'm glad it was me and not her. Will you tell her that?" Dov asked, shrugging his shoulders before he spoke again. "She'll probably blame herself for it."

"Alright. You did good tonight, Epstein." Sam started to walk out of the room, turning when he reached the door and smiled at Dov. "Hang in there, buddy. You'll be back on your feet in no time." Dov grinned proudly, tipped his chin up and waved one hand at Sam.

Sam walked out of the room, almost crashing into a familiar figure; he took a hold of her shoulders to steady them both. "Peck," Sam said, looking into Gail's green eyes. He released her shoulders and waited for her to say something.

Gail took a breath, pointing her finger at Dov's room. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's gonna be fine," Sam told her, smiling softly. "He just woke up, but I'm sure he's up for some company."

Gail nodded slowly. "Thanks," she murmured, making her way around Sam and walking inside the room. Sam lingered outside of Dov's room before he left for the night, chuckling and shaking his head when he heard Peck breathing out "you stupid idiot, you almost died." Sam pulled out his phone as he walked out of the hospital; noting the time he decided on a text for Andy, to let her know that Dov was okay.

He was grateful that Frank had brought his truck over so he didn't have to take a cab home. With a sigh, he climbed in and started the truck up before he pulled it out of the hospital's parking lot. Driving down the road he thought of Andy again; the more he thought of her, the more he realized that Monica was right. She was more than just his rookie to him. Sure, he was attracted to her; you'd have to be blind not to be drawn to her looks. But even blindness wouldn't save you when you first got to know her. Although she was overconfident, overeager, and overtly annoying on the surface, she was so much more - Beautiful, and brave, and determined and amazing. She had a beautiful inside to match her outer beauty.

A shadow running on the sidewalk caught his attention. He narrowed his eyes at the figure; he could have sworn he'd seen it somewhere before. He slowed down his speed, and rolled down the window on the passenger side. "McNally?" he shouted questioning. Andy turned her head to her side to look at him, but she didn't slow down her pace. Sam cursed under his breath before he sped up the truck and parked it next to the sidewalk further up; quickly he got out and reached to stop her just in time before she ran passed him. "Hey, hey!" He said, holding her still as she wiggled in his grip, desperately trying to continue running down the sidewalk. When she calmed down, he took her by her shoulders and held her at arm's length, looking curiously at her.

Andy blew out a frustrated breath through her nose, staring back at him. Letting her breathing steady out, she felt the feelings getting caught up on her again, and when she closed her eyes, she could see Dov's unmoving body, and her bloody hands pressing down on his abdomen. Desperate to feel something, _anything_ else, she stepped forward, watching as Sam's eyebrows drew together. She took another step forward and then…

She kissed him.

All at once, her hands were on his waist, and her lips were pressing hard and frantic against his. Instead of stopping her, like he should have done, he kissed her back with equally as much desperation as she did. With one hand cupping the back of her head and the other placed on the small of her back, he pulled her flush against him, never taking his lips off of hers. One of her hands travelled up his back and up to his head, threading her fingers through his hair. The other hand found its way beneath his thermal, scraping her nails over the smooth skin of his back. Her hips pushed against his, her legs drifted apart to make room for his thigh in between.

Sam let out a low growl from the back of his throat before he reluctantly pulled his lips away from hers, and trailed kissed and bites along her jaw and down her neck. Andy gasped and ground her hips against his thigh while pulling his face back up to her lips, kissing her way inside his mouth. Sam leaned back against the passenger door of his truck, pulling her with him as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss. Andy's hands restlessly roamed over his broad chest, she moaned into his mouth as her hands slipped down from his chest, only to let them slide up again under his thermal. Sam let his hand travel down to her behind and squeezed it while biting down on her bottom lip.

A blazing car horn, followed by a loud shout of "Get a room!," caused Sam to tear his lips away from Andy's. He watched as the car drove past them before he looked back at Andy, both of their breaths labored and heavy. Andy moved in to once again get her lips back on his, but Sam framed her face with his hands and held her back before leaning his forehead against hers. Andy tried to kiss him again, but Sam brushed his nose with hers instead. "What…what are we doing?" he asked her in between breaths.

Andy's eyes immediately widened in shock as realization dawned on her, and she was off of him before Sam could stop her. "Oh my god! Sam, I'm so, so sorry! I…I don't know what I was thinking,"she said, walking backwards in a hurry and threading her fingers nervously through her hair. "Well, obviously I wasn't, I guess. I'm just, I'm really sorr-omph!"

In her hurry, Andy's feet crossed each other and before she could realize it, she was flat on her ass on the ground. She closed her eyes and let out a loud huff.

Sam jogged over to her, bent his knees so he could grab her hands to help her up from the ground. "You okay?" he asked as he pulled her up to her feet.

Andy snatched her hands back, set herr jaw firmly and blinked rapidly, so that her tears wouldn't stream freely down her cheeks. "I'm _fine _Sam." Something on her face must have betrayed her lingering wariness, because he pushed a stray of hair behind her ear and let his hand slide down from her cheek to her shoulder. Andy took some steps away from him, grimacing when he followed her. "That bullet was meant for me. _I'm_ the one who should be lying in a hospital bed. Not Dov." Sam opened his mouth to protest, but Andy cut him off. "Don't Sam. You know it's true."

Sam nodded, reaching forward to grab her arm so she couldn't keep walking away from him. Without knowing what he was doing, he pulled her to him, and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

No," she whined, unable to keep the tears at bay, squirming to get out of his hold. Sam remembered Sarah comforting him this way, back when he was a kid, holding him against his will until he eventually would relax, and how he ended up using the same tactic on her later on. He tightened his grip around her, and moved even closer to her ear. "Shh. It's okay, I've got you. It's going to be okay," he murmured quietly into her ear. Finally, she stopped squirming, her hands fisted in his thermal and she hid her face in the crook of his neck. "Yes, it was meant for you. There's nothing I can say to change that fact, but Dov is okay, Andy. He's stable and awake. He'll be back on his feet before you know it. He also told me to tell you that he's glad that it was him instead of you."

Andy pulled away from his neck to look up at him, and stared into his eyes. "He's okay?" A small smile crept over her face when Sam nodded. He released the tight grip he had on her, but kept her in his arms. "You promised you'd let me know," Andy recalled, clearly feeling disappointed that he hadn't kept his promise.

"I did, Andy. I sent you a text; I didn't want to call you and risk waking you up."

Andy patted the pocket of her jeans before she smiled sheepishly. "My phone…I don't have it on me." Sam chuckled as he pulled his hands away from her and rested them by his side. He stared into her eyes, and his eyebrows knitted together in confusion when she didn't move away from him. "Have you ever been shot?" she asked, holding his gaze.

Sam swallowed loudly before he coughed to clear his throat. "A couple of times, yeah."

"How?" she asked, right after he had answered her.

Sam smiled blankly before he rubbed the back of his neck. "First time was when I was a rookie. I got shot from a foot away, and the bullet got stuck in my vest. It wasn't too serious, I was back on my feet the same day." He took a deep breath, remembering back to the second time.

"And the second time?" Andy asked, watching him carefully.

"The second time, I got shot was while I was in deep cover for the third time. I got hit in my neck and lost a lot of blood." Andy grimaced as the words dawned on her. Sam took another deep breath. "I, uh," he started, hesitating a little before he finally explained further. "I woke up two weeks after." Andy gasped, her hands reaching out to fist in his thermal. Sam smiled a little before he bent his knees slightly to catch her eyes. "I recovered fine, and so will Dov."

Andy nodded, and tried her best to smile. "Did it hurt?"

Sam chuckled lightly before he responded. "Like a bitch." Andy let go of his thermal, but continued to stand close to him. A blush crept over her cheeks when her stomach growled. Sam laughed and tilted her chin up so that she would meet his eyes. "Tell you what, since you never let me buy you that drink, how about I buy you breakfast now?"

Andy giggled quietly, looking down at her watch. "Breakfast? It's barely past midnight."

"So? Call it a later dinner, a night snack or an early breakfast if you want. I don't care, I'm starving and so are you," he said, grinning at her and tugging on her arm. She nodded and followed him back to his truck, both of them climbing in and buckling up before Sam pulled the truck away from the street.

They stopped at an all-night diner, both of them eating a large plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast with a glass of juice. They kept the talking to the minimum, both of them just enjoying each other's company and finally getting fed after a long day. After they'd been at the diner for a little over an hour, Sam paid the bill and motioned for them to get back out to the truck. "C'mon, McNally. Let's get you home."

Sam parked outside her apartment building and looked over at her in the passenger seat; she had her elbow propped up against the window, resting her head on her arm. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was steady. He reached out and shook her shoulder gently. "McNally, wake up."

Stirring awake, she stretched like a cat and giggled. "Some company you are if I fell asleep," she teased, smiling at him.

Sam snorted a laugh at her. "Get out of my truck and up to bed, McNally."

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled through a yawn, unbuckling herself and opening the door before she hopped down to the ground. "Thanks for breakfast, Sam."

Sam waved her off and watched as she walked up to her building before he headed home to his own bed. Driving down the street he sighed, realizing he was in deeper shit than he was a few hours ago. He felt a shiver in his spine when he thought about the way she had kissed him, and practically launched herself at him. He couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he hadn't stopped her. He shook his head as he parked the car in his driveway, rubbing both of his hands over his face as he chuckled. He did enjoy himself with her tonight, but Sam knew he had to draw some lines for himself. Needing to do a better job at not noticing her wide smile and her extremely annoying but charming laughter; the way she smelled and the way her body felt pressed up against his. Sam took another deep, shuddering breath before he got out of the truck and into his house, already knowing that sleep wouldn't come easy tonight.

* * *

Andy woke up sweaty and panting the morning after. Her dreams had been confusing, one minute she was dreaming about Dov and the shooting, and the other she was dreaming about Sam and the… She groaned, turning over to her front and burying her head in her pillow. She had dreamt what had happened last night. She stayed in bed for a little longer before she got out and headed for the shower. She was glad she was back on shift this afternoon instead of this morning; not only was she tired, but she didn't feel quite ready to face Sam again just yet.

On her way to the hospital, she stopped by Tim Hortons to buy Dov his favorite coffee and a muffin. When she arrived at the hospital, she asked the front desk at the ICU what room Dov was in before she walked down the hall to find him. She took a breath before she stepped into Dov's room; she almost dropped the coffees and muffins that she had brought with her by seeing the surprising sight she met inside the room. "Oh…Hi. I uh…I uhm… I can come back later." She whirled around to step out of the room, but immediately stopped when his voice called after her.

"McNally, you stay. I was just on my way out anyway," Sam said, before he quickly got to his feet. He came to stand next to her in the open doorway, both of them avoiding each other's eyes. "Right. Uhm, yeah. See you around, Epstein," Sam said as he left the room.

Dov looked curiously at Andy who was staring after Sam before he coughed to get her attention. "Are those muffins for me?"

Andy turned to face him. "Huh? Oh yeah, of course they are for you." She hurried over to take the seat Sam had occupied just a few seconds earlier. "Glad to see that you're awake. How are you feeling?" She asked while handing him his coffee and muffin.

"A lot better now," Dov said, smiling at her. When Andy's worried expression remained on her face, Dov sighed and pulled down the covers, exposing the stiches on his side. "It hurts, but at least I'll have an awesome scar."

Andy shook her head and smiled sadly to him. "I'm really sorry, Dov. I'm the one who should be in that bed."

"Are you jealous of my pity party?" he joked before he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Andy, it's not your fault, you couldn't have known that he was an unstable person with a gun. And I'm glad it was me instead of you." When she looked at him with a frown, he chuckled before he winced in pain. "If it was you I would have been so jealous of your scar."

Andy laughed a little before Chris and Traci's voices cut her laughter. "Hey guys!" Chris said, smiling and holding a balloon with 'Get Well Soon' written on it. Traci came to sit next to Andy while Chris took a seat at the other side of the bed. "Ah, this is so cool! Did you bring this Andy?" Chris asked, holding up a magazine with vintage cars.

"No, Swarek brought me that," Dov said proudly, grabbing the magazine from Chris and flipping through the pages. "He said that he was going to teach me how to fix a car once I'm back on my feet."

Andy and Traci's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Swarek? Huh. That's nice of him," Traci said, looking between Dov and Andy. Traci noticed how Andy's cheeks blushed by the mention of his name and she narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Hey Andy, how about we let the boys look at the magazine _Swarek_ so nicely brought Dov while you and I go to work?"

Andy shook her head, already knowing why Traci wanted her alone. There was no way that she prepared at all to have _that_ conversation.

"Yeah, you two should go. Dov and I are going to look through this," Chris said, his eyes glued to the magazine in Dov's hands.

"Great!" Traci exclaimed as she got to her feet, glaring at Andy when she didn't follow suit.

With a huff Andy pushed herself up from her chair and followed Traci out of the room.

Once they were down in Traci's car, Traci shifted towards Andy. "What's up with you?"

Andy rolled her eyes, laughing nervously. "Nothing."

Traci narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Andy as she started up her car. "Nice of _Swarek_ to stop by and check up on Dov," she said, looking for a reaction out of Andy.

"Mhm. Yep." Andy replied vaguely, keeping her gaze forward. Traci sighed and pulled the car out of the parking lot, driving towards the station. Halfway to the station, Andy sat tapping her legs nervously to the floor. "I kissed Sam," she blurted out, eyes widening in shock by her own confession.

Traci stomped on the break, almost causing the car behind them to crash into them. "What?"

"Traci!" Andy chastised, looking behind them. "Keep driving; you're causing a line."

Traci got the car moving again, but glanced over at Andy. "So…how was he?" She smirked when she saw Andy snap her head to the side to look at her.

"Seriously, _that's _what you wanna know?" Andy asked in disbelief.

Traci chuckled lightly. "_Fine_. When?"

"Last night," Andy answered before she groaned and flushed again. "God, it was so embarrassing afterwards. I broke down and he said all these mushy things to calm me down. And then he took me out for an early breakfast. Totally weird. God, it's going to be so awkward today."

"I take it you're still with Luke?" Traci hesitantly asked, pulling the car into the parking lot of the station.

"Of course I'm still with Luke. It was a mistake. A heat in the moment kind of thing. Won't happen again," Andy rambled on, avoiding Traci's disbelieving look.

"Hmm." Traci said, parking the car in an empty spot.

Andy shifted to look at Traci, and narrowed her eyes at her. "What? You don't believe me?"

"Doesn't Swarek have a girlfriend?" Traci asked, ignoring Andy's question.

Andy's eyes widened and her hand came up to cover her mouth. "Oh my god, he totally does!" she said, words sounding muffled because of her palm covering her mouth. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!" She placed her head between her knees and groaned again. "This is bad, this is really, really bad. It's bad, Trace. Right?"

"Andy, stop!" Traci said. "It's going to be okay. Did you two not talk during breakfast?"

Andy lifted her head from her knees and stared dumfounded at Traci. "What were we supposed to talk about? 'Hey, sorry I jumped you and made you a cheater!' ' Oh hey McNally, don't worry about it, I understand'? Andy queried. "No, we did not talk about _that_."

"Are you saying you're a cheater?" Traci asked carefully, wincing when Andy cried out.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god."

"Andy, relax, okay? You're going to talk to Swarek, and if it _really _was a mistake that won't happen ever again, and if you _really_ want to be with Luke, you put a lid on it."

Andy closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "Okay," she said as she let out a sigh, opening her eyes again. "I can do this."

"Yes, you can." Traci said and smiled at her. The two girls stepped out of the car and started to walk towards the entrance of the station. "Was he good though? He looks like he'd be good."

"Traci…" Andy pleaded.

"Okay, okay. Your flushed cheeks are enough of an answer for me," Traci chuckled and winked at her. "Never thought Swarek would say mushy things though."

"Okay!" Andy said, making a point that their conversation was over.

* * *

When Andy stepped out of the locker room and into the bullpen, her eyes found Sam at his desk, talking with Oliver. She took a deep breath before she walked up to them. When she stopped in front of them, Sam quickly looked away and started to fidget with his phone.

Oliver, on the other hand, stared amusedly at her. "Can I help you with something, McNally?" He asked, chuckling a little.

"Uhm, actually, I was wondering if I could get a word with you." She looked at Sam, but since he wasn't looking at her, he was oblivious to her stare. "Sam," she said, causing him to look at her.

"Yeah. Uhm, sure. What's up?" he mumbled, barely glancing up at her.

Andy looked at Oliver before she looked back at Sam, biting nervously at her lip. "Uhm, could we talk in private?"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "What's so hush-hush that I can't hear?" he asked, and then he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the both of them when he saw the way Andy blushed.

Sam glared at Oliver before he got to his feet, placing his palm on the small of Andy's back before he remembered that he wasn't going to casually touch her anymore, and pulled his hand away. He motioned for her to walk into an empty observation room. Once inside he closed the door quietly behind them before he turned to face her. "What do you want to talk about?" He asked, although he already had an idea of what she wanted to talk about.

"Last night." Andy said as she started to pace back and forth in front of Sam. "Clearly, I left my brain somewhere, and I'm really, really sorry. It didn't hit me until this morning that you have a girlfriend-"

"Whoa, McNally I don't have a gir-" Sam interrupted, looking at her with a surprised stare.

"What? No Sam, you got to let me fix this. I _need _to fix this. Just give me her number and I'll call her to explain that it was all on me." Clearly functioning without her brain again, Andy reached her hand down into his pocket to get the phone he put there a few minutes earlier.

Sam's eyes widened in shock before he grabbed her hand and pulled it up from his pocket. "McNally, what the hell are you doing?"

"Oh my god, what's wrong with me?" she asked herself, hiding her face in her hands, before she met his eyes again. "Just please, let me fix this."

Sam wanted to laugh, roll his eyes and shout at her for her ridiculous ramble, but he thought better of it. "I don't have a girlfriend and I didn't have one before we…" he trailed off, not wanting to mention what they had done last night.

"You didn't? But I thought…you left with her the first night at the Penny…" Andy trailed off, fidgeting nervously with her hands.

Sam smirked at her. "And that automatically makes her my girlfriend? Hate to break it to you McNally, but uh. Guys can take girls home from bars for other reasons than to be her boyfriend." He watched as she set her jaw, the muscles working furiously.

She nodded sharply at him before she took a breath. "No, of course it doesn't." She closed her eyes in embarrassment and a second feeling she refused to put name on. "God, I really need to find that brain of mine."

Sam couldn't help the chuckle escaping her lips. "Look, let's just forget it ever happened, okay? No biggie."

Andy's eyes snapped open, staring at Sam with wide eyes. "What do you mean forget?" She snorted before she continued "No biggie? I fucking jumped you, Sam!"

"Andy…I didn't exactly do anything to stop you-"

"Damn right you didn't. More like encouraged me!" she shouted, breathing hard.

Sam dropped his gaze, and brought his fingers up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Andy…I'm trying to help you here." He released the grip on his nose and met her eyes again, noticing how tense she seemed.

"So…we're just going to forget it? Just like that?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah. It was what it was."

"It was what it was?" Andy questioned disbelievingly. Resigned, she mirrored his move and shrugged her shoulders, too. "Okay. Thanks, I guess." She stared down at her feet, refusing to let him see how bothered she really was.

Sam turned to open the door before he looked over his shoulder at her. "You coming?"

"Just give me a minute. You go ahead." She said, not lifting her gaze to his.

Sam let out a sigh, released the door handle and turned to face her again. "You okay?"

"Yup. Never been better." She said, lifting her gaze to his and flashing him a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Sam rubbed his hand over his face before he tried to talk to her, but she cut him off. "Just go, Sam. I'll be right out." Sam nodded before he quietly left her to herself.

He walked back to his desk, and was met by Oliver's curious eyes. "What was that all about?" Sam shook his head at Oliver, not willing to share. "Sammy." Oliver said questioningly before he lowered his voice. "If something is going on with you two you have to put a stop to it now. She's your rookie and she's with-"

"Nothing is going on." Sam said to cut him off, annoyance clear in his voice. Oliver nodded right away, knowing his friend well enough to know when not to push it.

"Let's get to parade," Oliver said, patting Sam's shoulder.

Sam and Oliver leaned up against the wall at the back of the parade room, listening to Boyko tell the crowd that he was resigning. Andy made it into the room when the crowd was applauding Boyko before he let Frank have the word, sighing when she saw that her usual spot up front was taken. She rested her back against the doorframe, and stood inches away from Sam. She listened closely as Frank told the rest of the division on shift that he was the new Sergeant and in charge of the department from then on, and that Dov was going to be back on his feet in no time. The crowd applauded again, and Andy joined in on the applause and searched the room for Luke.

When her eyes couldn't find him, she furrowed her eyebrows. Sam glanced over to her, eyes narrowed as he studied her posture and face. She met his eyes, arching one eyebrow. "What?" she snapped, causing him to shrug his shoulders and move his gaze to the front of the room again.

When parade was over, Sam motioned for Andy to walk out, him following behind. She stopped to a halt, waiting until he was walking by her side before he kept going again. "What are we doing today?"

"Fighting," Sam replied, grinning when he saw the expression on her face.

"Fighting? Care to explain any further?" Andy asked, genuinely confused by his comment.

Sam stopped, waiting until she did too, before he spoke again. "I'm teaching you how to protect yourself, so you'll be able to get away the next time a big drug dealer comes after you." He gave her a pointed look as he said the last sentence.

Andy rolled her eyes at him. "I know how to protect myself; I went to the academy, just like you did."

Sam narrowed his eyes at her. "Whatever they taught you at the academy isn't going to help you when a guy twice your size grabs you from behind. You have to fight dirty, use all the tricks in the book to get away." He said, realizing he said it in a little too harshly.

The tone of his voice made Andy squirm; staring into his eyes she nodded. "Of course, sir."

Sam closed his eyes with a sigh before he re-opened them and reached out to touch her shoulder. He was about to speak when a voice interrupted him.

"Sammy, is that you? Oh my god, it's so good to see you." Andy watched as a petite brunette threw herself at Sam, wide smiles on both of their faces. "It feels like I haven't seen you in forever," the woman said, pulling back and flashing her smile at him.

"Well, we kinda haven't," Sam said, smiling down at her. He pointed to the badge hanging around her neck. "You're a detective now? I Thought you hated that shit."

"Yeah, well, things change you know." The woman looked over at Andy before she looked questioning back at Sam, her eyebrows raised slightly.

"Oh. This is McNally, she's a rookie," Sam explained, waving between the two women. "McNally, this is Megan Anderson. We worked undercover together a few years ago."

Megan offered her hand to Andy, smiling as she did. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Andy said, taking her hand and smiling tightly at her through narrowed eyes.

When the women released each other's hands, Megan turned to face Sam again, making small talk and smiling.

"So, what are you doing here at fifteen?" Sam asked her.

"I was at breakfast with Detective Callaghan." At Sam's puzzled look she continued, "There are some similarities in our cases, so we're cooperating." Sam moved his eyes over to Andy, noting that she was chewing the inside of her cheek.

"Oh, there you are," Megan said, looking over Sam's shoulder.

Luke came walking up to them, looking from one to another. "Hey."

Andy studied Megan as she looked at Luke. She was a beautiful woman and if Andy were to guess, she would have put money on the fact that she was around mid-thirties. She had dark, shiny hair and deep green eyes, with olive skin. But it was the smile and her natural charm that caused an uneasy feeling in Andy's stomach, a feeling that strengthened by the way Luke looked at her. When Andy caught Sam's eyes appraising her reaction, she immediately dropped her gaze and began to scuff her shoe against an invisible mark in the floor.

"You ready, McNally?" Sam asked, tilting his head in the direction of the stations gym.

Andy looked up, and nodded hurriedly. "Yeah." She started to walk with Sam, but stopped when Luke called out for her.

"Andy," he said, pulling something out of his pocket. "You forgot your phone last night." He held out her phone, looking at her as she hesitantly walked up to him to take it. She took the phone, and shoved it down in the pocket of her trousers. "I'll call you later." Luke said, smiling to her before he turned to walk in the opposite direction with Megan.

Andy turned to walk after Sam, catching up with him right outside the door to the gym.

"Would you be more excited about this if you pretend I'm Callaghan?" Sam asked with a smirk, and before he could help himself, "or Megan?"

Andy narrowed her eyes at him, fisted her hand and then shoved it hard into his stomach, causing Sam to groan and bend over. "Just you will do fine," she spat, biting down the grin she felt on her lips by the sight of him hunched over. Sam straightened his spine, chuckling a little. Andy opened the door and stepped inside, turning to look at him with her arms out. "Are we gonna do this thing or what?"

* * *

Three days later, Andy walked through the doors to the Penny, smiling and excited to hang out with her friends, and celebrate that Dov was finally out of his bed. Out of habit, she looked over to the TO's table, the smile on her face faded away by the sight that met her. Her hands clenched by her sides, her jaw tightened and her breathing got heavier than it was a few seconds ago. Sitting with her co-workers and superiors was her dad, nursing a glass of whiskey and laughing with them. She flinched when two strong hands touched her shoulders, and squeezed hem gently. She looked up over her shoulder, and forced a grin when she met Luke's blue eyes and boyish smile.

"Hey. Looking for me?" he asked, bending down to press a kiss onto the top of her head. Andy closed her eyes, and let a soft smile play on her lips. Her eyebrows stayed furrowed, and when she opened her eyes Luke was looking at her curiously. "You okay?"

Not trusting her voice she nodded, hoping that would be enough of a reassurance. One of Luke's hands trailed down her arm, took her hand in his and led her further into the Penny. She looked back to the TO's table, her eyes staring directly into Sam's. She held his gaze before she moved it to her dad, who was completely oblivious to her presence. Her breathing caught when Oliver nudged her dad, and tipped his chin in her direction for him to see. Tommy turned his head, looking straight at her and Luke. He smiled at her, but Andy forced her eyes away and kept walking, Luke following right behind.

"Isn't that your dad?" he asked, hiking his thumb over his shoulder. Andy turned to face him when they reached the rookies table, noting the anticipation in his eyes.

She bit her lip, and nodded slowly. "Yeah. Look, I'll introduce you some other time, okay? I don't wanna interrupt him when he's catching up with old coworkers." Truth was, she didn't want to introduce them; she didn't even want her dad to be there.

Luke didn't seem to catch on to her; he nodded his head and squeezed her hand. "Okay. I'll be with the other detectives; you have fun with your friends." He gave her one last smile before he kept walking towards the table in the back of the Penny.

With a shaky breath, she sat down on the empty chair next to Traci. She gave the others a smile, purposively avoiding Traci's eyes. The others said their 'hello's', and Chris filled a glass with beer from the pitcher and reached it over to her. "Thanks," she said, smiling widely to him. She lifted her glass up in a toast. "To Dov and his awesome scar," she cheered, laughing and smiling when the others mirrored her motion and shouted their cheers as well.

After a few minutes, when they were all discussing a B&E Chris and Shaw did today, Traci moved her chair closer to Andy's. "Are you okay?" Traci whispered, leaning in close to her.

Andy took a deep breath, staring across the bar at her dad. "How long has he been here?" she whispered back to Traci, making sure the other rookies weren't listening to them.

"I don't know," Traci said, shrugging her shoulders. "He was already here when we got here." She gave Andy a worried look, and rubbed her hand up Andy's back once. Andy pursed her lips before she shrugged Traci's hand off her back, giving her a knowing look. Traci only nodded, giving her a sad smile in return. Andy took a breath before she pushed herself up from the table, telling the others she'd order more drinks as an excuse. She walked up to the bar, taking a seat on one of the stools before she ordered a shot of tequila from Liam.

* * *

"So, Tommy," Oliver started, watching as Tommy looked over his shoulder at his daughter up at the bar. He reluctantly turned to face Oliver, eyebrows raised. "You think that kid of yours will make a good undercover officer?"

Tommy's eyebrows met at the middle, as he looked questioningly at Oliver. "Undercover?"

Oliver looked around the table before he stole a glance at Andy. "Yeah, she's in undercover training…" Oliver trailed off, quickly understanding that this was news to his former training officer.

Tommy shook his head, chuckling nervously. "Oh that's right, I forgot." Tommy said, a weak attempt at hiding that his own daughter had kept it from him.

Sam looked over at Andy, noting how tense she seemed to be. He took a sip of his drink, considering if he should go talk to her. He decided against it when Tommy got up from his chair.

"Excuse me, I'm just going to get another drink." He said, smiling to them.

Sam looked down at his glass, still half full with whiskey. He exchanged a look with Oliver before he followed Tommy with his eyes.

* * *

Andy saw her dad half stumble towards her; she quickly downed her shot and looked away from her dad.

"Andy," Tommy began, coming up to stand next to her. She glared over her shoulder, and straightened out her spine, every muscle in her body turning into knots.

"What are you doing here?" she asked through gritted teeth, nervously looking around to see how many people were paying attention to them. First she met Traci's empathic eyes, followed by Luke's winking ones, and then Sam's worried ones before she looked her dad straight in the eye.

"Just spending some time with old friends-" he began, but was soon to stop when Andy raised her hand to him.

"Stop it… just stop it, dad," she exhaled through her nose, causing her nostrils to expand. "You're here drinking and embarrassing me. I meant it when I said it dad: until you sober up; we're done." Her arms crossed protectively over her chest, standing her ground even if she felt like breaking down in the middle of the Penny. "Now, if you could leave I would really appreciate it."

Tommy dropped his gaze, and scratched at the back of his neck nervously. "Sweetheart, I'm only here catching up with the guys. I'm not even drinking."

Andy snorted, knowing her dad well enough to tell a lie from truth. "Fine, I'll leave," she said, rolling her eyes. She turned on her heel and walked furiously towards the exit of the Penny.

Sam, Jerry and Oliver's eyebrows shot up, all of them staring with puzzled looks as Andy almost ran out of the bar, Sam was almost out of his seat when he saw Traci hurrying after her.

Tommy came walking back to them, his fingers clenched around a new glass of scotch. He sat down and took a big gulp of the drink. Everyone else at the table shared looks between themselves, but no one said anything.

* * *

Traci found Andy sitting on the hood of her car; she walked over to the car and sat down next to her. She waited, listening to Andy desperately trying to control her heavy breathing. Her hands were shaking in her lap; Traci covered them with one steady and calm hand.

"Andy…" Traci started, rubbing her thumb soothingly at the back of Andy's hand. "You okay?" She asked, although she already knew that she wasn't.

Andy sucked in a shaky breath, tipping her head up to look at the sky with a sad smile on her lips as she watched the sparkling stars. Andy pushed herself further up on the hood of Traci's car, laying back and resting her head on the windshield. Traci smiled a little, shifted to lay down next to her and looking up at the stars. A sparkler shot over the sky, and both girls followed it with their eyes. "Make a wish…" Andy whispered, closing her eyes and letting out a long breath.

Traci turned to watch her friend, desperately wanting to wrap her up in her arms and hold her until all of her pain was gone. But knowing Andy, she knew Andy wouldn't want to break down out in the parking lot, so she grabbed her hand and gave it a light squeeze.

"He'll come around," Traci said as she watched Andy who had her eyes closed.

"I hope you're right," Andy whispered out in the air. Although she knew that Traci was talking about her dad, Andy couldn't really decide which of the three men currently confusing her life that _she_ was referring to.

The sound of a door opening caused Traci to sit up. Resting her weight on her palms behind her, she smiled when she saw Oliver walking towards them, his hands in his pocket and a worried look on his face. Traci glanced over her shoulder at Andy, who was still flat on her back with her closed eyes. She gave her knee a pat before she slid off the hood, and smiled at Oliver when she brushed passed him.

He sat down at the hood, waited till Traci was inside before he turned to look at her. Andy opened her eyes and tilted her chin down to look at Oliver.

"You and Tommy….you're not in a good place?" he asked carefully, studying her face.

Andy blew out a breath, and her hands came up to rub over her face. "Nope. Not really."

Oliver nodded and turned to look down at his shoes. "How bad is it?"

Another sigh escaped Andy's lips as she sat up on the hood, hugging her knees and resting her chin on top of them. "So bad that I'm out," she said, blinking hard before she met Oliver's eyes. "I'm done, I've been putting up with this for way too long already."

Oliver wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him as they sat on the hood. "Yes you have," he whispered and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "How long is it since the last time you talked?"

Feeling a little ashamed and exposed, Andy looked away. "A couple of months. Right after I started at fifteen." Oliver gave her shoulder another squeeze, and when she looked back at him he gave her a soft, but sad smile.

* * *

Completely oblivious to what was going out on the parking lot of the Penny, Sam and Jerry sat talking to Tommy.

"She's under your training?" Tommy asked Sam.

Sam nodded, chuckling a little. "Yeah, didn't expect that to happen," he grinned. "Did she tell you she almost blew my cover?"

Tommy shook his head before he gulped down the rest of his drink. "No, she must have forgotten. Busy life being a rookie, remember?"

Sam studied the man, and wondered why he seemed to know very little about his daughter's life. "Yeah, I guess."

Traci came through the doors, making her way towards them, which caused Jerry to crack a smile. Sam rolled his eyes, but chuckled at Jerry. Both of them ended up narrowing their eyes at Traci when she placed her hands on Tommy's shoulder.

"Hey mr. McNally," she smiled sweetly at him when he turned to face her. "Could I have a word with you?"

Sam looked surprised over at Jerry, who shrugged his shoulders before he turned his gaze back to them.

"Oh hey, sweetheart." Tommy said, smiling when he met Traci's eyes. "Sure, what is it?"

Traci bit her lip, looking nervously at Jerry and Sam before she looked at Tommy again. "Maybe we should-"

Tommy was soon to cut her off. "Nah, just say what's on your mind, sweetie."

Traci took a deep breath, trying to gather some courage. "Maybe you should call it a night?" she suggested as low as her voice would let her.

Sam and Jerry both stared at her with baffled expressions.

Tommy sighed, getting up from his chair and cupping her cheek with one hand. "You too, huh?"

Traci smiled sadly at him. "You have to understand, I'm just looking out for her," she explained in the same low voice as she had used before.

Tommy let the hand fall from her face, took his denim jacket from the chair and shrugged it on quickly.

He turned to face Jerry and Sam. "Nice catching up with you guys." He smiled politely, turning to look directly at Sam. "You make her a god copper, Swarek."

Sam nodded, watching him turn to Traci and give her shoulder a squeeze before he walked towards the exit of the Penny.

* * *

Andy's eyes snapped open at the sound of the door. She lifted her head from Oliver's shoulder to see her dad walking out the door, clearly having some problem walking completely straight. Oliver and Andy sat pulled apart from each other, both getting to their feet.

"You go ahead and go inside. I want to talk to him for a bit," Oliver said and gave Andy a sincere smile.

She walked towards the entrance, which also meant she walked towards her father; she kept her gaze down in an attempt to avoid the pleading look she _knew_ her father wore.

"Sweetheart…" she heard him whisper as she walked pass him. She shook her head slightly and walked inside, leaving her father alone with Oliver.

"Tommy…" Oliver started, squinting his eyes up at the sky before he looked at Tommy. "I respect you as my former training officer, but from one father to another…" he looked at the door where Andy had walked in. "That's a good kid you got there."

He watched as Tommy sucked in a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, I know."

Oliver walked up to him, shaking his head at him. "What happened to you?" he asked and before Tommy could reply, "Look, I know things got tough for you when your wife left, but you made your daughter's already nightmare worse by letting yourself fall apart."

Baffled, Tommy glared at Oliver and just when he was about to defend himself, Oliver placed his hand on his shoulder, and gave it a gentle squeeze as he made his way passed him. "Fix it, Tommy. It's a damn shame to push her away from you like that."

* * *

When the door to the Penny opened, Sam's eyes immediately went to it, watching Andy step back inside. She kept her gaze down as she walked up to the bar; her whole posture sagged and she wore a frown on her face. Traci turned too, quickly excusing herself to join her up at the bar. Sam watched as Traci's hand rubbed up Andy's back while her other hand motioned for Liam to get them a drink. A couple of minutes later, Oliver joined them by the table again, pretending like nothing happened.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked, narrowing his eyes at Oliver.

"Nothing, I was just out to get some fresh air." Oliver declared, avoiding eye contact with the two men. Jerry shrugged his shoulders and returned his attention to his drink, while Sam looked back at Andy and Traci up at the bar. He considered it again, if he should go up and talk to her, make sure she's okay. He knew very well he shouldn't, for his own sake. But for _her_ he really wanted to. He wasn't really sure if he felt relieved or not when he watched Traci lead Andy out of the Penny, or when he noticed that Andy didn't lift her eyes once to his or anyone else.

Half an hour later, the three men decided that's it was time to call it a night, and walked together out of the Penny. Oliver had parked his car as close to the door as he could possibly get, he waved his hand in goodbye to Jerry and Sam before he got in and drove away. Jerry and Sam kept walking down the parking lot; they came to a halt when they spotted Traci sitting on the hood of Jerry's precious car-

Sam looked over at Jerry, smirking when he saw the wide grin on his friends face. "You know the rules…" Sam mocked, laughing when Jerry glared at him.

"I'm just going to give her a ride home. Nothing wrong with that." Jerry explained, shrugging his shoulders casually.

"Right, right," Sam nodded, smirking before he lifted his chin in the direction of Traci's car. "Except for the fact that her car is right there." Jerry smiled sheepishly, pocketing his hands. "You really got it bad for this girl, buddy."

Jerry shook his head, but the smile remained on his lips. "I… uh."

Sam chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Oh yeah? Where's your goatee then?"

"I…yeah, I guess I do," Jerry said, grinning at Sam before he winked at Traci's confused expression.

Sam smiled sincerely and gave Jerry a pat on his back. "I'm happy for you, brother." He gave Jerry a push, motioning for him to start walking again. "Go, before she changes her mind, yeah?" Jerry waved his hand over his shoulder as he walked over to his car; Sam saw Traci laugh when he rushed her into his car and then drove off.

Sam walked over to his truck, quickly got in and turned the ignition. When he looked out the windshield, he saw the lights from his truck frame around a person sitting on a fence in front of his truck. He quickly shut the ignition off and stepped out of the truck. "McNally?" His brows were furrowed as he studied her; he shot a glance over the parking lot, noticing that Luke's car was still there. "You, uh. You waiting for Callaghan?"

She lifted her chin, and locked her eyes on his. "Wouldn't I be sitting in front of _Luke's _car if I was?"

Sam raised his eyebrows slightly, surprised. "Okay," he said and walked to stand in front of her, leaning his back up against the front of his truck. Crossing his arms over his chest he stared down at her where she was sitting on the fence. "So… what are you waiting for me for?"

Andy shrugged her shoulders slowly and dropped her gaze, staring down at his feet. Sam let out a sigh before he sat down next to her on the fence, his hand gripping around the fence for balance next to hers. Sam looked up at the open sky above them while he waited for Andy to speak. "Beautiful night to go stargazing…" she murmured quietly.

Sam choked out a laugh. "You wanna go _stargazing _with me, McNally?"

Andy's eyes widened, suddenly realizing what she'd said. Her cheeks blushed slightly and her teeth sunk down in her lip. Instead of replying, she took a shaky breath before she blurted out, "how well do you know my dad?" She felt Sam's eyes on her, but refused to meet them, so she kept her gaze down.

"Uh…He was a beat cop back when I was a rook. He was Oliver's training officer." Sam told her, keeping his eyes on her. When she stayed silent, he continued. "Sometimes I wish I had your dad instead of the hard- ass I ended up with. Oliver is a good teacher; he has your dad to thank for that." Sam said, smiling a little to himself as he remembered back to those days. "Tommy made detective right after we were cut loose. A good one too."

"_Used _to be a good one…" Andy trailed off before she finally lifted her head and turned it to meet Sam's intense and curious stare.

Sam nodded, not taking his eyes away from hers. "Yeah, things got a little tough for him when-"

Andy was quick to cut him off at the same time as she looked away. "When my mom left." She took another deep breath before she continued, "that's why I wanted to specialize in undercover, to not be a McNally. Not be Tommy's kid. Right now…I don't have any good reasons _not _to go undercover."

In the same second as the words left her mouth the doors to the Penny opened and Luke stepped out, walking towards his car. Sam and Andy watched him in silence, both shielded behind Sam's truck. When Luke was safely in his car, Sam looked at Andy again. "You sure about that?"

Andy met his eyes, four eyebrows knitted together as they stared at each other. Sam smirked before he pushed himself off the fence, seeing from the corner of his eyes the taillights of Luke's car. "C'mon, let me drive you home."

"I think I'll walk…"

"McNally, I wasn't asking." Sam said sternly before he climbed back into his truck. He started it up and waited for Andy to follow suit. When she remained seated on the fence in front of him, he blinked with his headlights, flashing her. Andy's hands immediately flew up to cover her eyes from the bright light before she reluctantly pushed herself off the fence and got in the truck. The drive back to her place was silent, both of them lost in their own thoughts. When Sam parked outside her building he let out a sigh. "I think you should give this undercover thing a second thought."

She looked at him, the muscle in her jaw working. "I _have _given it a second thought," she said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Sam looked over at her, his eyebrows raised. "This is serious, Andy. You have to leave your whole life behind when you go." He waited a couple of seconds, studying her. "_If _you go."

"You don't think I'm being serious about this?" she asked, feeling disappointed and angry. "I'm serious, Sam. I'm ready."

"You have to _want_ it, too," Sam told her, staring her down.

Andy swallowed, licking her lips as she did. "I _want_ this, Sam. If you don't believe me, that's fine. I'll show you," she said stubbornly, opening the door to the truck and hopping down.

Sam didn't get the chance to respond before she slammed the door shut and walked up to her door. With another heavy sigh, Sam pulled the truck out on the road again, and headed home.

* * *

Sam had just sunk down onto his couch, a beer in one hand and a cold slice of pizza in the other when his phone rung on the kitchen counter, where he'd left it. He let it go a few times before he pushed himself up from the couch with a sigh and padded into his kitchen. He picked up the phone before looking at the caller id, and a strange feeling sprang up in his chest by the sight if Boyd's name on his screen. "Yeah?" He answered, holding the phone up to his ear.

"**Hey man. Remember that short uc-op I mentioned for you?" Boyd asked.**

Sam wasn't sure if he felt relieved about getting away from the Andy or not, but he did want to get back under and feel that satisfying rush of adrenaline again. "What about it?" he asked, even if he already knew.

"**You're going under in two weeks." **

Sam closed his eyes, took in a deep breath and smiled a little.

"**And Sammy? McNally's going with you."**

* * *

_Until next time, please let me know your thoughts :)_


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